While enjoying her summer vacation, new dean Amy Tucker’s inbox was flooded with emails from various teachers, all of them welcoming her to the school and wanting her to stop by their classrooms. Principal Greg Minter had sent an email out over the summer listing the school’s new administrators and their positions, and Tucker was overwhelmed with the positivity she received from teachers she hadn’t even met yet.
“[The emails made me feel] so welcomed and valued and excited to come here,” Tucker said. “Coming to a new place I could easily feel anxious about it, but because I felt so welcomed I was ready to walk in the door.”
Before accepting her new job at Prospect, Tucker worked as a licensed clinical social worker in child welfare. One of her main jobs was helping parents who had lost custody of their children relearn the skills needed to gain custody back.
With help from a mentor, Tucker began her transition to working with students in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) on their emotional regulation. During her time in CPS, she was able to discover her passion for working directly with kids. After receiving her masters in clinical social work, Tucker and her friend got their administrative certifications, which led her to becoming a dean.
“I was looking for a change,” Tucker said. “I know District 214 and I know people in it, and they’ve always spoken super highly of the district, so when this position opened up I was excited to apply.”
Tucker believes that her background as a social worker and a psychologist lends itself perfectly to working as a dean because she is able to build deeper relationships and implement restorative practices that she has learned over her years of working with students.
“I’m excited to form those relationships, and I think that [my background] will be beneficial to working with kids,” Tucker said.
She is most looking forward to practicing restorative circles, which is a method of evaluating a situation and giving voice to the individuals within the situation instead of jumping straight to punitive consequences. Tucker, who was a trainer of restorative circles at her old district, stresses that there are consequences involved, but through a restorative circle each individual can achieve what they need to move forward through the conflict and learn from their mistakes.
“When the time is right, and I have an opportunity to … demonstrate the use of a circle, I would love to share those skills,” Tucker said.
Looking forward to the rest of the year, Tucker wants to form as many new relationships with both adults and students as possible. She is eager to visit classrooms and learn about their teaching environments, cheer athletes on at their games and go to various club meetings.
“I want to get to know people and learn what Prospect is all about,” Tucker said.
