CC#61: Spanish Immersion in K-5 w/ Jenny Steele

In this episode of Cool Coffee with Kansas Principals, host Rick Sola speaks with Jenny Steele, the principal of Manchester Park Elementary, about her journey from middle school to elementary education, the unique Spanish immersion program at her school, and the challenges and successes that come with it. They discuss the importance of community support, the enrollment process, and the transition of students to middle school, as well as the significance of mentorship and compassion in educational leadership.

Principal Jenny Steele


Manchester Park Elementary School


USD 233

"Is this a sitcom?" - CC#24: A Principal's Perspective from Jenny Steele (10/30/2024)

Email: [e-mail]

Chapters (time stamps do not account for CC intro)

(FULL TRANSCRIPT BELOW)

00:00 Introduction and Background


03:02 Journey to Principalship


05:49 Spanish Immersion Program Overview


09:11 Challenges in Implementation


11:49 Curriculum and Instructional Strategies


14:51 Student Enrollment and Lottery System


18:13 Performance and Assessment


20:52 Transitioning to Middle School


24:01 Community and Support


27:12 Advice and Reflections


29:57 Conclusion and Future Outlook

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Show Transcript (AI generated)

Rick Sola (00:01.646) Hello and welcome to another edition of Cool Coffee with Kansas Principles. Today I am joined by Ms. Jenny Steele, Manchester Park Elementary Principal, home of the Timberwolves and USD 233 in Olathe, Kansas. Welcome, Jenny.

Jenny Steele (00:17.015) Hello, Ruck.

Rick Sola (00:18.798) How's it going? How was your Friday? This is a Friday that we're recording. It's a Friday in the springtime. How'd it go today?

Jenny Steele (00:24.365) Well, it's a Friday and you know, mid April, so it's good, you know.

Rick Sola (00:29.688) So I'll just start with a little bit of full disclosure. Oftentimes, principals, I'm meeting often for the first time after some email conversation, but Jenny and I go way back to like 2011 when I was a brand new administrator and Jenny was my counterpart assistant principal at Prairie Trail Middle School. So, you know.

We'll stay professional and know, task at hand here, but we do go back a little bit. So it's good to see you again. And I actually was going to bring up, so I will just throw this out there. Jenny and I are both big Seinfeld fans. And so we always had fun with a little bit of just kind of banter back and forth and even still throug