Lynn Irby
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — In her new role, South Orange Middle School Principal Lynn Irby plans to bring a passion for the arts along with a sincere desire to see students and teachers succeed. Irby replaces Joseph Uglialoro, who resigned suddenly at the beginning of the summer.
A South Orange native, Irby attended Montrose Elementary School and South Orange Middle School before graduating from Columbia High School. From there she went on first to SUNY Purchase, intent on pursuing a degree in dance — her first love. Though she transferred to Rutgers to obtain an English degree, Irby never forgot her love of dance and the arts in general. After being graduated from Rutgers, she pursued a graduate degree in educational leadership and administration from Fordham University.
In a recent interview with the News-Record, Irby shared that her first experiences in education were working with middle school students, a population with which she is eager to renew her connection.
“I started out as a middle school teacher, and then went on to teach middle school teachers,” Irby said. “Through the Striving Readers Grant, I was able to collaborate with some of the leading educators around the country and hear about what worked and didn’t work, and bring that information back to my teachers.”
As part of the Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy program, Irby was responsible for overseeing a multimillion-dollar grant that studied how middle school students learn, especially those with disabilities or who are not native English speakers.
Irby also served as the principal of Thirteenth Avenue Elementary School in Newark, and her most recent position before coming to SOMS was as the principal of Newark Arts High School, the nation’s first high school of visual and performing arts.
The combination of the arts and academics is one that Irby believes works well, and it is a recipe for the success she plans to bring to her home district.
“I promised my father that I would come back to the SOMA School District one day, whether it was as a teacher or in some other capacity,” Irby said. “I knew I was coming full circle when I recognized the last name of one of the current special education teachers and realized after speaking with him that his father was my second-grade teacher.”
Irby says the timing and the position were right, and the warm welcome that she received from the community during her first few days in the role confirmed that she had made a good decision.
Though this will be her first time in a formal role with the South Orange-Maplewood School District, Irby had been returning for years to work with the special dance class at Columbia High School.
“My first love is dance, and I was able to come back to Columbia and help choreograph numbers for the students, so I always stayed connected with the school district in one way or another,” she said.
In fact, Irby and her sister used to run a dance studio in the area, and some of the children they taught then are now students in Irby’s school.
Bringing a robust performance-arts repertoire to SOMS is a main component of Irby’s agenda, and is an area in which she has proven successful; while principal of the Thirteenth Avenue school, she brought a Dance Theatre of Harlem artist-in-residency program to the school, giving members of the school’s dance club a unique opportunity to meet renowned dancers, take trips to performance theaters and attend workshops.
“I want to elevate the arts. In today’s world, they are ignored in schools because of budget cuts, but this school district has always had a phenomenal arts program,” Irby said.
One of Irby’s ideas includes hosting an event for International Jazz Day on April 30 that invites middle and high school jazz bands from outside the SOMSD to play at the middle school.
“I want to establish artist-in-residency programs, write grants; I’ve contacted several prominent dance companies as well as a former student who became a student with Alvin Ailey dance company, and he will come back to do a master class,” she said.
“There is an incredible world in art. So many times you have parents that think that you can’t find a job in the arts, but there will always be an orchestra or a band to play with,” Irby said. “My first stop will be to walk over to South Orange Performing Arts Center and introduce myself as principal and make some connections happen. Why can’t my kids in SOMS benefit from that? All it takes is someone getting out there trying.”
Irby is swift to acknowledge that even the most ambitious plans she may have for her students benefit from the support and involvement of both teachers and parents.
“The staff at SOMS, from what I have seen, is incredibly talented and very knowledgeable and caring about kids,” she said. “The expertise that we need to elevate the school and its academics is right there in the building and we need to tap into everyone. We need to collaborate and have conversations about best practices and share as a family without anyone feeling embarrassed to ask a question.”
A parent herself, Irby also desires to build strong relationships with the parents of her students, and believes it is paramount to their individual and collective success.
“One of the things we have to work on is parental involvement, not just at the school, but communications. There should be complete transparency. I want them to know I have nothing to hide,” she said. “It’s going to take all of us to educate our kids. Parents are the biggest advocate and without them I can’t do anything.
“Parents need to feel that their voices are being heard, teachers want to know that their voices are valid, kids want to know their voices are valid,” she said. “They have a right to be heard, it’s a different world than when I was in middle school.”
Irby hopes to encourage both students and teachers to succeed, and in the process help pursue their passions full steam ahead.
“I want to ignite whatever fire they had that brought them to this profession, because they didn’t do it for the money,” she said.
When asked what best qualities she brings to the role, Irby does not hesitate to respond that it is her undying devotion to the children.
“My passion and love for children, that’s the best thing I can bring. I am going to give my best for the children of South Orange and Maplewood,” she said. “I have watched kids I have taught come back and be successful. All 800 kids in SOMS are now my children.”