Milcetich enters the Greenhouse

When you walk down the halls of Aurora High School, you may spot a particularly bright and energetic new face: AHS’s new principal Dr. Paul Milcetich.

Over the past year, the Aurora City Schools district has experienced multiple changes within its administrative positions and faculty. Former Superintendent Russ Bennett has stepped down from Aurora City Schools and is the current Director of Leadership Services at Educational Service Center of Cuyahoga County.

Replacing Bennett is Pat Ciccantelli, the former assistant Superintendent; succeeding Ciccantelli is Aurora High School’s former principal Mike Roberto.

Now that the school year is in full swing, Milcetich has stepped forward and encourages students to get to know him and who he is, not just as one’s principal but also as a fellow greenman.

To begin, Milcetich taught world history at Solon High School for seven year before becoming an assistant principal at Kent Roosevelt for two years. Afterwards, he then went on to be a unit principal at Hudson High School for four years and principal at Hudson’s East Woods Elementary (grades 4-5) for two years. He loves the Growth Mindset book.

When asked about his motivations to become a principal rather than to remain a teacher, Milcetich said, “I felt I could increase my overall impact as an administrator in charge of a building rather than just in my classroom. It's not as hands-on, but my classroom becomes the entire school."

After accepting the position at AHS, Milcetich did not hesitate to become integrated with the district’s policies and beliefs. He especially loves the concept of a greenhouse- constantly growing and improving in and out of the classroom.

Milcetich describes the transition as, “Smooth. The people here have been great and extremely helpful. As you would expect, I had a lot of homework learning the staff, the policies, everything to truly incorporate myself into the district. I could call it a learning curve year.”

Some of the things Milcetich would like to incorporate in upcoming years is for students and faculty to use technology as a tool for classwork and assignments, along with simpler communication techniques. Milcetich himself is active on twitter and encourages students to follow him (@DrPMilcetich) to stay updated with daily reminders and upcoming school events. Milcetich alludes to the fact that in the winter, he will be the first person to tweet out with snowday verifications.

“There is no excuse for poor communication nowadays, we are so connected through schoolpointe, twitter, google classroom, and many more. Twitter is a fun thing to do, however we have to be careful to strike a balance between social media and real life interaction. There is a time and place when we need to put the phone away,” said Milcetich.

Along with the usage of social media, Milcetich describes the district as nearly perfect, and that improvements are not excessively needed.

“The school is outstanding, although we can and should always look to find opportunities where we can get better,” Milcetich said. “We are essentially looking to tweak certain things such as adding new programs and classes for the 2016-2017 school year.”

Nevertheless, Milcetich and staff are excited for the upcoming school year not only to refine and tweak programs already in place, but also to familiarize themselves with new and returning students. As Milcetich says, “We must have a growth mindset everyday by remaining positive, supportive, and open-minded here at AHS. Let’s have a great year together."