As old WA alumni come back to visit their old high school teachers and members of the administration, there are often noticeably absent faces; perhaps a math teacher has decided to teach at a different school, or a guidance counselor has retired. However, there are always a few faculty members who have stood the test of time and remained at WA for a great number of years, such as Dean Michael Parent.

This year marks Parent’s 34th year as part of the WA community, but he was not always a dean. After college, he started at the academy as a special education teacher, and this enabled him to connect more with the students even after he moved away from teaching in a classroom.

“I think being in the classroom is a must before you become an administrator to see the day to day […] things that [students] go through gives you a global picture in this position,” said Parent.

Besides teaching special education when he first started in the 1980’s, Parent also involved himself in coaching varsity football and varsity softball teams. According to Parent, about five years ago he took a brief hiatus from coaching so he could watch his own kids play sports at Dracut high school, but once they graduated, he returned to coaching and now coaches freshmen football.

“I think any time you can do anything beyond the school day, where kids see that you’re a regular person, and whether it’s a club or activity […], any type of activity where you meet the teacher in a more relaxed environment […] just adds to your relationship with them,” said Parent.

Through the years, Parent has developed a strong connection with some students, and sometimes, those connections even span more than one generation. (View the video clip to the left to hear Administrative Assistants Kathie Ablondi and Linda Mahoney recounting Parent’s interactions with past WA graduates.)

“I love seeing the students from years ago come back […] that’s a special thing. And now I’m in the cycle of having some of their kids, so I had them in the 80’s and 90’s and now they’re parents so I have some of their kids. That’s special too,” he said.

Parent feels it is not common for faculty to leave WA for better opportunities and that he has been able to maintain strong relations with his co-workers.  (View video clip to the right to hear Ablondi and Mahoney recounting one of the pranks Parent has pulled on a co-worker.)

Additionally, though Parent acknowledges that through the years the school itself has changed, such as the student body nearly doubling in size from 800 students to nearly 1,600 since the 1980’s, he does not feel that the characters of the student bodies have changed much.

“The kids have been awesome here forever. I have a great saying that ‘Good kids make bad decisions,’ and the decisions that some kids make now are very similar to ones that were made in the ’80’s and ’90’s. But it’s a great environment to learn. Kids learn not only academics, but they learn a lot of great life lessons from their teachers, coaches, club advisers, so on and so forth,” said Parent.

However, one feeling Parent has continued to have through his time at WA involves his hope that students will take their experiences at WA along with them when they leave.

“One thing I want the students to remember is that this is their school, not ours. We’re here for [the students]. We’re just the captain of the ship, but you guys are steering the ship. I hope you feel this place is a great place to attend, and sometimes you won’t realize that until you go off to college and meet your friends in college and they start talking about their high school life and you start talking about yours […] I think you’re going to find out that you went to high school at one of the best places around. I’ve been truly blessed to be a part of that for 34 years,” said Parent.

Click here to view some student opinion soundbytes about Mr. Parent.