The thick aroma of tender beef and sauteed vegetables mix with drawled laughter. The atmosphere is comforting, easygoing, and a refreshing break from their administrative duties. Assistant Principal Eric Sweeney relaxes into the navy, velvet-soft, office chair, sighing. Around him, his coworkers are immersed in amiable conversation, surrounded by fall decorations: stuffed hay bales, scarecrows with beady eyes, and handfuls of phony fall leaves in various reds, golds, and tanned browns. He spoons fajitas onto his plate, his smile genuine.
October was Principal Appreciation Month, during which students and staff alike were encouraged to go the extra mile to appreciate and give thanks to Principal Tara Baker and her team for their work. Baker, too, made arrangements to show her gratitude towards the assistant principals through a well-planned and executed luncheon.
“[Baker] set up a lunch for us, so she ordered food, and we’re all on duty during lunch, and she arranged for other people to cover our duty spots,” Sweeney said. “We got to kind of sit and enjoy [ourselves]. All the assistant principals really like each other, we like talking to each other, so it was nice just to hang out, put work to the side for a little bit.”
The luncheon was two hours long, a time period during which the assistant principals’ duties were taken over by office staff support. Assistant Principal Matthew Warren said the gesture was “unique but also very appreciated.”
“I like to [organize the luncheon] once a term,” Principal Tara Baker said. “The APs are on duty every single day…that’s really difficult because that’s a large chunk of time that they could either be in classrooms, in meetings, in their office catching up on emails…so every term I try to organize a duty-free luncheon…and they were able to enjoy a lunch on us as Clements and not have to worry about you know what was happening on campus.”
The thought and effort Baker puts into ensuring that her staff are appreciated stand testament to her character. Librarian Marion Brennan said that Baker is “doing a phenomenal job” after taking the reins as principal.
“We all wanted her to assume the position,” US History and Special Topics teacher Tara McMartin said. “When our last principal left and she was the associate, it just seemed natural that she’d be the next one in charge. We knew she was going to do a great job and she has…She’s fair, she’s friendly, she’s accessible. So I have nothing but good things to say about Ms. Baker.”
Baker has left an indelible positive mark on the school as a whole. She was also the one to interview many of the teachers currently teaching here, namely, Spanish I and III teacher Adriana Stanescu and AP Language and English III teacher Heather Hill.
“My interaction with Ms. Baker has been since day one because she was one of the people that interviewed me three years ago and the one that showed me the school and everything,” Stanescu said. “She, since day one, has been a really sweet and nice person to me all the time…at the beginning, I met her as an AP. She was not a principal yet and I was really happy to…work with somebody that was so positive and always smiling…After they named her as our definite principal, I was really happy because well, she worked really hard…and she stood up like a shield for everybody in the school [during] our worst moment. And well, she did amazing.”
On top of interviewing Hill, Baker is also her appraiser for the 2024-25 school year. Hill said that she “felt supported” and knew that she could go to Baker for any challenges she faced.
“She was one of the ones that interviewed me for the job,” Hill said. “I was impressed because she and I are probably very similar as far as age, so for her to be principal of the top school in Fort Bend, I think speaks volumes about her character, her capabilities, and the respect that she has from her peers, her coworkers. And so that to me was a really great sign.”
Baker’s support extends to staff as well, especially the APs she works in close contact with. She has built excellent friendships beyond administrative duties and helped many break out of their shell.
“I started at Clements about two and a half, almost three years ago now, and Ms. Baker was the Associate Principal at the time,” Warren said. “We actually shared a commons office…and I was able to shadow her and learn a lot since this is my new administrative role, so she was a great mentor to me professionally, but also personally, sharing tips and tricks of the trade, how to balance that work life but also family life to make sure you can show up as the best version of yourself every day.”
Sweeney said all the APs “chipped in and got [Baker] flowers,” to show their appreciation.
“I’m a ‘words of affirmation’ kind of person, so I wrote her a really nice letter, detailing just how much I respect her,” Sweeney said. “Ms. Baker, when I first started here last year, immediately, I felt like I resonated with her a lot. We have a similar style, similar sense of humor, so I just wanted to tell her that I think she’s awesome, and I really respect her as a leader…[she’s] somebody who I really like as a person, who asked me questions about my life.”
Assistant Principal Ashli Taylor also vouched for Baker’s positive influence on the school and staff.
“I think that Principal Baker is doing a wonderful job,” Taylor said. “She is very dedicated to our school. She’s intelligent. She’s energetic. She’s very positive. I think that she has a vision for our school and the things that are important for our staff and our students, and she does an excellent job of executing that vision. I really enjoy working with her a lot…I do my best to let her know that I think she’s doing a good job and that I really appreciate all that she does for all of us.”
Baker says that one of the reasons she loves her job is due to the connection that she has with the students. That connection with her principal – back when she was a teacher – was what spurred her into her role now.
“I’ll never forget [when] he said ‘You need to get your master’s and you need to become a principal,’” Baker said. “I was 25 years old. That wasn’t even on my radar. I didn’t even think about the plan for my journey, but I will never forget that conversation, and [the] next month, I had already signed up to enroll in my master’s program…that moment in my life made me realize the power of speaking life into someone.”
Before becoming principal, Baker first stepped into the shoes of associate principal, where she dealt with discipline for three years. The transition afterward into being principal was difficult since Baker had to fulfill the job of interim principal on top of her current position. Baker said she ended up asking Warren to step in as associate principal and they “shifted the delegations a little” so it would be manageable for the two of them.
“It was a difficult time for about three or four months,” Baker said. “We had two people doing three jobs because he was still an assistant principal at the time too, but we made it work and we were resilient, and when I tell you that we had the support of the community behind us, it was amazing. You know how they say like cream rises to the top…that’s what I feel happened with everyone. Students were helping, teachers were helping, APs, of course, were helping.”
During the rough transitional period, the community was what kept the school afloat, and everyone helped fill the missing roles. The administrative team especially, kept going despite the pressure and got the school back on its feet.
“It’s very nice of her to say I stepped up, but a lot of us stepped up,” Warren said. “That’s just who she is as a leader, she doesn’t really want to take credit for anything, but she also did a fantastic job during that transition because there’s a lot of uncertainty for faculty, staff, and students.”
For a lot of people involved in the education sector, including all the staff here, the innermost motivation comes from the students. Assistant Principal Kevin Byrd, who has spent 25 years in education, said that he enjoys being around students because “there’s so much they can do and helping prepare them for life after this step is really an important part” of his life.
“My favorite part of each day that keeps me, that gets me set on the right path is each morning I’m there to greet the special needs students that get off the bus and they are always so happy to see you,” Byrd said. “It brightens your day when you see them at lunch. They’re always happy to have a conversation with you and so that’s really a great part of my day that keeps me motivated.”
Since the students are such a big part of the principal and assistant principals’ lives, intertwined with their everyday convictions and forming the foundations of their careers, having the students give back hits very close to home. It’s special and rewarding, knowing that nothing you do goes unseen.
“I got so many flowers and I got a Stanley Cup,” Baker said. “It’s my first Stanley Cup and my nine-year-old daughter said [that] now I’m a cool mom…I got a ton of cards and I think that for me when someone takes time to handwrite a card to show appreciation that means the world to me…I will welcome any gifts, but just to know that people took time out of their day to compose a card…it was nice and I could go on and on about just how appreciated I feel.”
On top of that, Baker said that she thinks that Clements has “the best students in the nation” and expressed her gratitude to be where she is today. 
“I think that little things really add up,” Taylor said. “I see students that I know, and they say hi and give me a smile, and that makes a big difference in my days…I feel appreciated by knowing that people respect me and enjoy talking to me enough that they want to stop and visit or just say hi.”
All in all, it’s lovely for students to show their gratitude towards administration and staff, even if they are small gestures like bidding them a good day or waving in the hallways. Knowing that you are appreciated goes a long way, especially in fields like education.
“[I feel appreciated] anytime a student goes out of their way to thank any AP in any way, whether it’s just a conversation or some sort of small gift,” Byrd said. “There was one student last year who, Mr. Sweeney and I spent a lot of time working with, that before she graduated, she gave us coffee mugs with our initials on them and just a nice note. That’s really the most rewarding part is when people actually hand write their thoughts on a piece of paper and give it to you. That means a lot.”
All photos courtesy of Ms. Baker.
