ROCHELLE Dooley was well aware of the significance of her first official day as Merewether High School principal coinciding with the Higher School Certificate written exam period.
"I had the opportunity to meet with some of our year 12 cohort doing their HSC exams throughout the past fortnight prior to their exams, so there certainly were some parallels," said Mrs Dooley, who was previously relieving principal at Newcastle High.
"But also in both cases there was some excitement, as they were ending one chapter and I was starting a new chapter."
She said she had spent the past fortnight meeting with staff and students to "understand the fabric" of the Hunter's only academically selective school "and what it is we do well and what it is we stand for".
She has joined the school as it develops its strategic improvement plan for 2021 to 2024 and said she was focused on "holistic education" going forward, "having really strong learning and wellbeing structures that support all of our students, many of which have multiple gifts and talents across a variety of domains, and making sure they reach their full potential across all of those domains".
Mrs Dooley takes the reins from Christine Rippon, who helped the school over her eight years before retirement cement itself as the region's best performer in the HSC.
Mrs Dooley grew up in the Hunter and said she knew of Merewether's reputation.
"The pursuit of academic excellence has always been something at the forefront of my leadership as a principal and those high expectations of all staff and students, that certainly was a driving force for me applying for the role and knowing what leadership skills I have that I could contribute and value add to the performance of the school."
Mrs Dooley studied at the University of Newcastle.
"I went into teaching to make a difference and an impact on the lives of young people, as I've pursued my career further it's not only the lives of young people that I can make a difference to, but it's the teaching staff I work with that I can impact on their practice and make them better instructional leaders."
She started teaching at Maitland High and stayed for seven years, before moving to Singleton High, where she spent nine years, had two head teacher roles and became deputy principal.
She joined Newcastle High as deputy principal in term two 2018 and worked alongside Nathan Towney, who last year became the University of Newcastle's Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous Strategy and Leadership. He encouraged her to pursue a principal role.
She was selected to join the first cohort of the Department of Education's Aspiring Principals Leadership Program.
"He just said 'I'm not accepting no for an answer, you're going to apply [to be relieving principal]'," she said.
Newcastle High still "holds a very special place in my heart".
"Its diversity is certainly its strength and that's something I loved and embraced and was really fortunate to be a part of."
Mrs Dooley is also a mum of two studying for her Master of Educational Leadership and training with the Maitland Touch Association's Women's 40 side for the state championships.
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