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Kids Unlimited Academy replaces director with 'dream team' Jani Hale Monday Dec 12, 2016 at 12:01 AM Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune @teresathomas_MT Kids Unlimited Academy is under new leadership after its director of academics, Lynn Eccleston, resigned unexpectedly over Veteran’s Day weekend. Tom Cole, executive director of Kids Unlimited, a free after-school and mentoring program that is the public charter school's parent company and host, declined to comment on Eccleston’s motive for leaving. “Ultimately, she thought it was in her best interest and her family’s best interest to resign from the position,” he said. Jani Hale, who retired earlier this year after 13 years as principal of Phoenix High School, has been appointed interim director of academics and is supported in this role by Anne Mitchell, a retired Roosevelt Elementary School principal, and Steph Johnson-Klug, a retired Washington Elementary School principal and former Kids Unlimited Academy principal. “We’ve been extremely lucky to get the dream team of educators to step forward to assist us,” Cole said. Since retiring, Hale had signed a contract with the Southern Oregon Education Service District to mentor administrators in the Three Rivers School District. Because Hale's time was limited, Mitchell and Johnson agreed to lend a hand and offer support as needed, Cole said. The Kids Unlimited Academy School Board isn’t likely to replace Eccleston this school year but has notified regional education networks of the vacancy, Cole said. “It’s not likely that the right candidate is just sitting out there unemployed,” he said, adding that the official job posting has not yet been listed. Kids Unlimited Academy implemented several changes this school year, including a new master schedule with increased instruction time and more targeted interventions geared at improving Smarter Balanced performance, Cole said. The school's 2015-16 Smarter Balanced assessment results were not as high as anticipated, prompting school leadership to review its systems and processes. Leaders sought feedback from successful schools around the country with similar demographics, explored new academic models and enlisted the help of a Portland-based consulting firm to review their administrative practices, curriculum and academic structure, Cole said. “All of the Kids Unlimited Academy faculty are very sensitive about their responsibility to children … and we felt that we needed to explore and address and look at things through more than one lens, even if it was different from what we had previously done,” Cole said. “It’s not about what we’re comfortable with. It’s about what’s best for our kids,” he said, adding that he was grateful that Hale, Mitchell and Johnson-Klug supported their vision for the school. Hale, who also served 12 years as an English teacher and seven years as assistant principal of South Medford High School, said she hadn’t been in Kids Unlimited since it was a bowling lane. After accepting the position, she met with teachers and asked them what they wanted to celebrate about the school, what they would like to toss and what they would like to tweak. “There is such a culture of caring, and they have such an incredible day staff and enrichment program after school,” Hale said. “And the kids come out of nowhere and just hug me.” "My focus there is to maintain that culture, build relationships with the teachers, parents and kids, and try to create a culture where you improve test scores, not because you're focusing on scores but because you're focusing on doing what's right," she said. — Reach education reporter Teresa Thomas at 541-776-4497 or [email protected]. Follow her at www.twitter.com/teresathomas_mt.