Schooled: Confessions of a Rookie Vice Principal

by Lenore Hirsch

"A fun read and I was disappointed when it was over. You will relate to the behind-the-scenes trials and tribulations of working in education today." Dr. Barbara Nemko, Superintendent of Schools, Napa County, California

Can the new female VP survive an obnoxious boss, earn the respect of troubled teens and clueless teachers, find her inner strength, and maybe love?

Cynthia Walker, age thirty-five, leaves teaching to become vice principal at Hamilton Middle School. Ride the roller coaster of her new job with Cynthia—the hilarity and angst of working with tweens. Watch her deal with bomb threats, fire, and pythons on the loose. Bullied kids and abusive parents. Dysfunctional homes, teachers without a clue, and a principal who does little work, but tries to get close—is he hitting on her? Meanwhile, she would like to date the handsome and talented history teacher, if only she weren't his supervisor.

Schooled will take you back to your own school days. It will make you laugh and will pull at your heartstrings. It will open your eyes to the challenges of public education and the job satisfaction to be found by educators who care.

Join Ms. Walker as she stumbles and finds her way, stands up for what she believes, and—perhaps finds a lasting love.

233 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 18, 2021

About the author

Lenore Hirsch is a retired educator in Napa, CA who writes features for the Napa Valley Register, poetry, and stories. Her books include her dog’s memoir; My Leash on Life, Foxy’s View of the World from a Foot Off the Ground; a poetry collection, Leavings; Laugh and Live, Advice for Aging Boomers, essays about aging with humor; and Schooled: Confessions of a Rookie Vice Principal. She blogs about publishing at laughing-oak.com, about her dog's antics at myleashonlife.me, and about the Napa food scene at lunchencounter.net. More book information can be found at lenorehirsch.com

Reviews

[Amys Bookshelf Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lenore Hirsch tells the truth about seventh graders, and it just gets better

In Schooled: Confessions of a Rookie Vice Principal, the listener is introduced to Cynthia Walker, a new vice principal. I have/haven't listened to anything from this author before, and I really enjoyed it. If you've ever had a seventh grader, and I've had four, you know they are in the middle, you know between 6th grade, and 8th grade. It's a trying time not just for the child, but also those who have to take care of them. This author is a great storyteller. Many times, in listening to this, I found myself nodding my head in agreement or recollection, and then smiling, snickering, or remember the heartbreaking of bullying. It happens. It starts in schools and can grow up into adulthood. Hirsch didn't hold back. She shared the ins and outs of being at a new school, dealing with how to impress her authority to children, who are as nervous, scared, smart, a little bit crazy, as she may be. I love that she shares the humor in it, as well as the side we wish we didn't know, but we know all too well. You were once a seventh grader. Do you remember what it was like. Magnificent story, kept this reader turning the hanging on every word of the story. This author's characters develop and interacts well with the other characters. Anyone who listens to this book, will relate, and praise those teachers and school administrators who have to take care of hundreds of children. Schooled on audiobook is a definite listening recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews. I look forward to listening to many more titles by this author. Amy's Bookshelf Reviews recommends that anyone who listens to this book, to also write a review.

[Lexrex1215 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Lenore Hirsch, a retired classroom teacher and principal, has stated she intended to tell an entertaining story that would educate the reader about what goes into being a school administrator. Schooled: Confessions of a Rookie Vice Principal does this and more. Hirsch chose a setting she knows best: that world aptly named “middle school,” a place where those in between infantile childhood and soon-to-be adulthood are shepherded by a faculty and staff that needs its own support and sustenance. This universally familiar location and period of life arouses long-forgotten memories in the reader—a bubbling caldron of diversely anxious sixth, seventh, and eighth graders, each of whom is susceptible at any time to falling into a swamp of disorganized emotions.

Every society has methods of providing adolescents with the skills and understandings required to accept the call to adult life. On one level, Schooled presents a vivid catalog of various student crises and middle-school interventions designed to help them master their individual, sometimes fragile and scary, voyages. On a deeper level, however, the novel’s greatest strength, which slowly builds throughout, is the quality of leadership portrayed by its protagonist, first-year–vice-principal Cynthia. The term “natural born leader” comes to mind. Her ability to supervise, mentor, and inspire older and more experienced teachers and staff requires a special talent. By subtly and deftly capturing in this nuanced character the necessary ingredients found in all great leaders, Hirsch educates those who aspire to such heights in any field of endeavor

[Tonya · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read. The story was interesting on its own and it also touched a special place in my heart having worked with Middle School APs while running a youth court. I’m told this story is pretty accurate to what it looks like in school.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable and quick read. Humorous, light hearted and romantic while also showing a realistic depiction of what it is like in the schools today for administrators, teachers, students and parents and dealing with important issues.