Principal McDonnell to Retire at End of Spring Semester
Mr. McDonnell started in Midwood as a science teacher and still teaches AP Human Geography. Photo: Sophie Taveras
By MICHAEL ONYSKO, SOPHIE TAVERAS, and SABASTIAN SENIOR
After 28 years in education, the time has come for Principal Michael McDonnell to shut the lights off in his office for the last time. At a March 13 staff meeting, Mr. McDonnell announced that he would retire as Midwood’s principal at the end of the spring semester.
“Everyone has a time,” he said, “and this is just the right time for me. I’m not going to retire when I’m sitting at the porch yelling at the kids. I’ll do that later! But I’m ready to do something else.”
“It’s been wonderful,” he said. “I'm happy I did it. It’s the greatest thing I’m probably ever going to do in my life.”
Mr. McDonnell’s fondness for the school runs deep. “Midwood has been my second home for the last 22 years,” he said. “It’s a great place with great students. This is my second family.”
The school has a deep connection with Mr. McDonnell’s personal life. He met his wife here, when he was teaching at Canarsie High School and she was running a workshop at Midwood for Earth Science.
“I was recommended to come to the workshop,” he said. “At first, I said, ‘No, I want to go home and sleep. I’m dead tired, it’s my first year of teaching, I’m exhausted.’ But on the way home I changed my mind and came here, and I met her and ended up marrying her.”
The two have been together now for 26 years. Their son graduated from Midwood in 2017.
Mr. McDonnell’s teaching career began in 1994 at Canarsie. He transferred to Midwood in 2000, where he worked as an Earth Science and Physics teacher before becoming Assistant Principal of the Science Department. “I’ve probably been here since before most of you were born,” he said.
Mr. McDonnell met his wife at Midwood, and his son graduated from the school in 2017. Photo: Michael Onysko
One day, he was offered the chance to become Midwood’s eighth principal in the school’s eight decade history.
“It just kind of happened,” he said. “You’re going to find out, folks, that things just kind of happen to you. The principal before me had taken a job upstate, so they asked me if I was interested, I said yes, and here we are, nine years later.”
“I had a lot to learn when I first became principal,” he explained. “I didn’t know a lot about the school’s structure, budget, staffing, putting classes together. And you know this is a big place, so I’m lucky that I had a group of people who had a lot of knowledge. I had to learn it from them.”
“In your first year, as with any job, you’re trying to keep your head above the water,” he said. “Like a freshman first semester, you’re just trying to figure out where things are, how do I pass classes, what are my teachers like. But as time goes on, by the time you’re a senior, you’ve got it all figured out. I guess I’m a senior now. I get to finally graduate.”
As you can imagine, being the principal of one of Brooklyn’s biggest and best-known schools is no easy task.
“If you're trying to find a job without stress, good luck,” Mr. McDonnell said. “We all have stress. I’m responsible for the supervision and administration of 4,000 students. It’s like being the mayor of a small city. It's never dull, I’ll tell you that much.”
But the stress also comes with a big payoff. “Seeing you guys walk in as freshmen, then walk across the [graduation] stage as seniors, it’s a pretty amazing feeling,” he said. “In those four years, students change so much, and we get to witness it firsthand.”
Mr. McDonnell has a lot he’s looking forward to in the next chapter of his life. “I’m going to Aruba in August, Nashville in September, and Paris in October,” he said. “I’m 56, and I realized I won't be here forever, so I want to travel and gain experience while I still can.”
But the impact he made at the school will last, colleagues said.
“I loved working with him,” said Mr. Alan Stack, the Assistant Principal of Organization, who taught Physical Science while Mr. McDonnell was still leading the department. “He did a very good job here. He always put the students first.”
Mr. Richard Franzese, the Assistant Principal of Security, credited Mr. McDonnell’s “productive, professional, and friendly” tenure. “I learned patience from him,” he said, “when evaluating a situation, before dispensing any type of action, and certainly speaking to colleagues who I trust for their advice.”
“Mr. McDonnell was the best principal I have ever worked with,” said Ms. Fern Bren, the Assistant Principal of Guidance.
“I’m going to miss his open door policy,” she added. “I’m going to miss how any time we had extra money, he always thought about spending it on the students and how the students would benefit. He never wanted any recognition for all the good he did. He is a very humble man. He really cared about this school, and he cared so much about the students.”
“Midwood is a special place,” Mr. McDonnell said. “I think the next principal is going to walk into a school that’s ready to fly. This place is already well-known throughout Brooklyn, and we have a great reputation.” Mr. McDonnell felt it was his responsibility to uphold that reputation and even improve on it, he said. “I feel like I’ve done that, and I’m sure the next principal will do the same,” he added.
In addition to his role as principal, Mr. McDonnell also still teaches AP Human Geography, keeping his connection with students personal.
“I won’t miss waking up at six o’clock every morning, I’ll tell you that much, but I’ll miss you guys,” he said. “Students keep you young. They have so much energy.”
“You know, as teachers we don’t make millions of dollars,” he said. “We don’t get stock options or stuff like that. What we get is that when you guys become seniors, we get to watch you go to colleges, get scholarships, and we know you’re going to look back and remember your teachers just how I look back now and remember my teachers.”
“I think that all of us are here for that reason,” he said.