As Dr. Mitch Nerdin leaves Skyline to become Granite School District’s Chief of Staff, Robert McDaniel has now taken his place as Principal. This is his second time working at a high school, transferring from being principal at Cypress High School.
McDaniel has been an educator for 31 years, but he’s not just bringing in experience; he’s bringing in enthusiasm and passion. He said, “I’m really excited. I asked to come here; I’d heard great things about the community. I know great things about it, because I’ve worked in this district for a long time.”
Even though Cypress and Skyline are both within Granite District, there are bound to be differences and discrepancies. When asked about his experience, McDaniel said, “I think a big difference is, at Skyline, there tends to be a higher percentage of parents who are maybe in certain professions or fields and have expectations for their students, and some of the families in my prior school were kind of working paycheck to paycheck, just trying to keep up. It was a little bit harder for them to be as involved as they wanted to be at times.”
McDaniel believes in truly helping students, inside and out the classroom. “I would say for most educators the hardest challenge is when you really set goals for things you want to do, and you struggle to get what you’re looking for,” he explained. He gave an example: “If you’re trying to create a school where all students feel like they belong, and you have some kids drop out of school, or they deal with some other trauma or things, and you don’t feel that you can help them—that’s really hard in this profession.”
McDaniel’s determination to bring the best high school experience to every student is rooted in enthusiasm and optimism. “I have a saying that says, ‘the grass is greener where you water it,’ and I think that there’s a really good lesson in that,” he said. “Both as a student and as an educator, you get out of things what you put into it. It’s easy to see things you don’t have, or that you’re missing, but if you focus on the things that you have control of, then you can really go a long way.”
McDaniel is also working on bringing in new policies and getting rid of outdated ones. He explained, “I want to build on the positive things that we’re doing. One of the things that we’re doing right now is looking at the policies that we have, and some of them are old.” Out with the old, in with the new!
McDaniel doesn’t make decisions in isolation—there will be a leadership team and a PBIS committee (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports), and these people meet and review policies to see what can be changed and applied for a better Skyline experience. “I think one of the biggest policies that people always ask about is the dress code,” he mentioned. “Times have changed over the years, and I think we have to be careful to not do things [just] because we’ve done them forever and try to make sure that we’re doing things that fit where society is now.”
McDaniel wants students to know, first and foremost, that he is approachable. He said, “I’m here because I like young people, and, if people are struggling or need something, I’m available to talk to or share ideas.” He is absolutely delighted to be here and expressed how impressed he is with the students. “I cannot believe how respectful and polite the students at Skyline are. People give me knuckles in the halls—not like, punching me, but you know,” he joked. “I look forward to all the activities that are coming up, just so many positive things that I hope I can just add to some of these traditions that you all have set before my time here. So, I’m just excited. I couldn’t be more thrilled.”
