This week we are proud to shine the spotlight on Mrs. Mary Bailey, principal at Aurora Elementary School. Mrs. Bailey began her career at South Dearborn as a 6th grade teacher in the building that would go on to become Aurora Elementary School. She completed Reading Recovery Training from Purdue University and taught Reading Recovery from 2005-2011. In 2011 she became assistant principal, and is now entering her fourth year as principal.
We asked Mrs. Bailey if there was a teacher when she was growing up who had an influence on her decision to become a teacher. She responded, “I had a wonderful first grade teacher, Mrs. Carolyn Brown, and when she spoke about her career and students her eyes glowed. She made learning fun and cared about all of her students. As I grew up, I decided I wanted to be like her and touch the lives of students.”
Mrs. Bailey says that she is proud to be part of Aurora Elementary School for many reasons. “AES has a staff that is caring and works tirelessly to meet the needs of all the students. I enjoy watching the students' excitement as they are learning. I like the families and the community. We have worked to build community relationships the past three years and it has been exciting to see what the school and community can do when they work together.”
When we asked Mrs. Bailey what goals she might have for the future of AES and its students, she responded, “We want to continue building relationships with the community. In the past three years, we have been able to bring numerous programs to AES including Big Brother Big Sisters, United Way Kindergarten Jump Start, Duke Energy Jump Start, Purdue Extension's Robotics Club, Safe Passage Character Education Programs and Sacks of Snacks. We are very proud of our Sacks of Snacks program which started a wonderful partnership with The Clearinghouse in October 2014.”
She went on to say that the AES staff would be conducting regular data conversations with students to encourage and allow them to track their own progress and have “ownership” and pride in their accomplishments and growth. She also looks forward to finding new ways to engage students. “The implementation of Chromebooks in the 4th-6th grade classrooms have allowed staff to create many new and successful activities to engage students in learning.” Mrs. Bailey feels sure that this is only the first of many great ways that AES will encourage learning in all students.
Mrs. Bailey is married to her husband of 27 years, Garry, and has two children, Adam and Tara, who both graduated from South Dearborn High School. Both Adam and Tara have gone on to continue their education – Adam at University of Southern Indiana where he is soon to graduate with a degree in mechanical engineering, and Tara started at Ball State University this year.
In her free time Mrs. Bailey enjoys reading, talking with friends around a bonfire, boating, and going to the beach. Thank you for sharing with us today, Mrs. Bailey!