Goodbye, Mrs. Fecke: Longtime Sky Oaks Principal to Retire

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We've only been in the lunchroom for a few minutes when it starts.

"Mrs. Fecke! Mrs. Fecke! I lost a tooth."

That single shout sets off a chorus. In two seconds flat, the kindergarteners from late lunch have Sky Oaks Principal Kay Fecke surrounded and an absolute onslaught of adoration has begun. Delighted, Fecke calls each by name, oohs and aahs at each beaming, gappy smile and inquires after the tooth fairy. Some grab her hands. Others beg her to stay. Before we've left she's seen the entire class' teeth, resolved a dispute over a purloined pancake and dried a few tears.

In the quiet of the hallway, Fecke says "You're always a celebrity with kindergarteners."

After the school year ends, Fecke will pack up her office, turn in her keys and reluctantly retire from Sky Oaks.

"I'm going to be an emotional wreck. It means so much to me," said Fecke, who decided to become a teacher as a teenager in her native Illinois. 

She's been with the district since the 1980s, beginning as a parent volunteer, then a long-term sub and then as a full-time elementary teacher. She has taught at a half of the district's elementary schools, but Sky Oaks is where her heart is. Fecke has spent a total of 26 years at the school.

She became the principal 13 years ago.

Fecke has presided over the school during a sea change. Over the last 10 years Sky Oaks has become the district's poorest, most racially diverse school—and one of the largest as well. As of 2012, Sky Oaks the three largest racial groups had almost achieved complete parity: 32 percent of the student body was white, 31.4 percent were Hispanic and 30.4 percent were black. Over 40 percent spoke English as a second language (26 or 30 languages at home). Almost 70 percent of the kids at Sky Oaks qualified for free and reduced lunch, an indicator of poverty.

The demographic shift coincided with a complete reorientation of the nation's school system, which came under the sway of President George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind reforms, an intensely data and test-driven model of education. Fecke says a data-driven approach to education can cut both ways. Tests can be useful as a snapshot in time—a rough estimate of the child's development, she said, rather than a definitive judgment on them or the teacher. With new technology and information, teaching techniques have become increasingly dynamic and increasingly customized—a positive change, to her mind.

"When I was starting out I was given a set of text books and that's what I was supposed to teach," Fecke recalled.

"We do a much better job of really knowing individual students' strengths and areas that need support. We have better tools, we have better training and we can be much more specific," Fecke explained further. "When I came out of college it was you taught the subject. Now we teach the child." 

Nevertheless, Fecke's core philosophy hasn't changed. At root, teaching is about the connection between one teacher and one child, Fecke said. For Fecke, these are not just fine words. Both School Board Chair Sandy Sweep and Sky Oaks PTO President Julie Pettes marveled at Fecke's encyclopedic knowledge of each of the 600 to 700 children in her school.

"If you watch Kay in the halls with the kids she addresses each by name, high fives them all, and remembers what they told her yesterday," Sweep said. "She has such a personal relationship with them. She will be missed."

June 30 will be Fecke's last day.

"She puts her whole heart into it. She's really wonderful," Pettes said. "She's been a part of the school for so long. It's going to be big hole to fill."