Mark Pruitt is a Red Clay lifer. He graduated from Thomas McKean High School, majored in political science at the University of Delaware and returned to McKean to teach history and head the boys' basketball team before becoming an assistant principal at Alexis I. duPont High School.
Now, the Veteran Red Clay educator has been promoted to principal of Henry C. Conrad Schools of Science. He's the right man for the job, says Red Clay Superintendent Dr. Robert J. Andrzejewski.
Pruitt replaces deans Dr. Gerald Smith who retired and Dr. Paul Topolosky who left for other opportunities.
Pruitt plans to continue the vision already laid out for the resurrected Conrad, which started as a high school, later transformed into a middle school, and most recently transformed again into a junior-senior high school magnet, opening with 650 students in grades six through nine last fall.
The new Conrad mixes a focus on biotechnology and allied health career programs with a traditional public school program. Instituted with the help of corporate sponsors AstraZeneca, Christiana Care, the Delaware Biotechnology Institute, the University of Delaware, DuPont Co., DelTech, and the Nemours Foundation/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Conrad graduates will be workforce ready, or be ably prepared to move onto a DelTech or a four-year college education.
By 2009, the enrollment is expected to top out at as many as 1,100 students, with the first commencement to take place in June, 2011.
Pruitt has important plans for the school. Since the middle school is already thriving, he wants to work on developing the high school component. He has close ties to Elsmere and Richardson Park, and he wants to see the local children who live there take advantage of what Conrad has to offer. And, he believes Conrad can build on its fiercely loyal alumni base as it reestablishes the Redskins tradition.
“They‘re already contacting me. The class of 55 is set up for a walk through in October,” he said. “We’re going to have a homecoming event on October 25 and invite all the alumni back. We’ll play a a football game at 11 a.m.”
Andrzejewski says he knows Pruitt is the man to lead Conrad because of his ties to the community and because he has proved himself as a leader, whether coaching basketball at McKean or leading as an assistant principal at A.I.
“Mark’s a winner. You’re coaching your staff,” said Andrzejewski, who himself served stints as a volleyball and softball coach at Wilmington High School. “I’m the head coach and as the team performs, I perform. So, I think good coaches bring a lot to administration because they understand the value of teamwork.”
