Thank You, Mr. Boyle, Oakwood High Principal

By Mary Jo Scalzo, Superintendent

Eleven years ago this month, in May of 1998, the Oakwood School District received a letter of application for the principalship of Oakwood High School from a veteran administrator of 19 years by the name of Joseph R. Boyle, Jr. In his introductory missive, Mr. Boyle declared that, “…at this point in my career I am very interested in pursuing a principalship which would enhance my professional development.” He went on to explain why he would embrace the challenge of contributing to a school district that was committed “… to the pursuit of academic excellence...” and sustained by “community pride and support.”

Mr. Boyle already had experienced almost two decades as a servant leader first at Bishop Hartley High School in Columbus during the 1980s and later at Grandview Heights High School during the 1990s. Mr. Boyle was eager to lead Oakwood High School, promising vision, commitment to community values and student-centered decision-making.

Next month, Mr. Boyle will retire after 11 years as Oakwood High School’s principal. He has honored the promises made over a decade ago; he has borne witness to a professional life as a servant leader.

About the time Joe was beginning his teaching and coaching career in the early 1970s, Robert K. Greenleaf was beginning to write about his philosophy of servant leadership and applying it to the work of institutions. In his essay The Servant as Leader, Greenleaf wrote:

The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first…The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served.”

Joe Boyle has made a career of serving the needs of others, especially those of his students. “Rarely have I known someone able to combine the seemingly disparate qualities of forceful leader and benevolent guide to the degree that Joe exhibits,” wrote a colleague more than 10 years ago. I agree. This is a man who has disciplined students when they made poor decisions and provided a listening ear when they needed someone to understand their angst. This is a man who paced the sidelines of football and field hockey games and waited until the last student was picked up from the school dance. This is a man who gets red in the face with emotion at the absence of compassion and who cries at graduation every single year. This is a man who recently advised me about a particularly difficult decision, “Lead with your heart on this one.” Thank you, Joe.

We will honor Mr. Joseph R. Boyle, Jr. at a community Open House Reception on Wednesday, June 3 from 3:30-6:00 p.m. at Oakwood High School. The reception will be held in the Staff and Community Meeting Room located in the north wing of OHS. The public is cordially invited to attend.

Joe, thank you for making a difference in our lives as teacher, coach, and administrator!