After the sudden, and somewhat shrouded resignation of CHS principal Dr. Louise Losos last year, the district of Clayton was left looking for a new principal. Shortly after the time of Losos’ resignation, CHS administrator, Dr. Dan Gutchewsky, was named interim principal. Now, after leading the high school for several months, Gutchewsky has been appointed principal of CHS.

The interviewing process for appointing Gutchewsky wasn’t the normal one for CHS, but then again, neither were the circumstances. Gutchewsky, having served several months as interim principal, had the interim tag removed by the board of education.

“As I’ve been interim principal since last April, it’s kind of been an on the job interview,” Gutchewsky said. “People felt comfortable with me in the role and liked the direction we were headed, and I feel very validated that the work we’ve been doing, that I’ve been doing, is moving us in the right direction, and that both the superintendent and the board recognized that.”

Gutchewsky originally applied for the position when Losos was hired. At the time, CHS followed the more traditional route for hiring a principal. Large scale searches were held, including an advertisement placed in Education Week.

“They did a formal search with multiple rounds and multiple constituents,” Gutchewsky said. “They did a full-blast interview process. This time, I was fortunate that the superintendent made the recommendation to the board and the board appointed me. There wasn’t a traditional interview process in the same way that there was in previous years.”

A client-based survey was sent out for Gutchewsky, and although the new principal has not directly seen the results, he believes they were positive.

“I assume from the fact that they [the board] removed the interim tag that they [the survey results] were very positive,” Gutchewsky said. “In my conversations with Dr. Wilkinson she referenced a few anecdotes, just a few quotes from some of the client surveys and indicated that they were very good. I was happy about that, I won’t say that I was surprised, but it’s good to know that people are recognizing your work and feel good about the job that you’re doing.”

While the difficult task of earning the principal position is now behind Gutchewsky, the greater challenge of guiding the school lies ahead. Despite the overwhelming role of being both a key administrator and community leader, Gutchewsky has an optimistic outlook for Clayton. He has strong values that he feels are particularly adapted to Clayton’s unique size.

“Clayton is a small community,” Gutchewsky said. “The community is very much intertwined with the school district itself, and with Clayton High School. When you have a community that’s that small, relationships become very important.”

Gutchewsky has taken many steps to develop these relationships at Clayton. He greets students outside before the school day starts, and personally delivers birthday cards to each student. Gutchewsky says that establishing relations fosters a better learning environment through creating a positive legacy.

“Legacy is the history of the community that you are a part of,” Gutchewsky said. “Being aware of that legacy and being aware that you’re part of something special, and being aware that you are a part of an organization that has done great things or a community of learners that have done great things, I think is something to be proud of, is something that instills pride, and then also goes to the entire climate of the school and that sense of allegiance to the community.”

Gutchewsky appears to have a clear, strong vision of how he wishes to improve CHS. Emerging from the difficulties of last year’s leadership issues, Gutchewsky’s optimism is well received by the community. The new principal’s final comments were gratitude, and a hope for a bright future at CHS.

“I’m glad that the board and the superintendent and the community has had faith in me and have been so supportive,” Gutchewsky said. “I look forward to many many great years here and I think we’re going to do great things.”