Hi Joyce Kilmer Family,

If you are reading this message, then my adventure in Mahwah Public Schools has started. I’m excited and honored to be joining the Joyce Kilmer family and look forward to making wonderful memories with your children. My name is Billy Bowie and I am the new principal at Joyce Kilmer School.

A little about me; I’m from the southern part of the United States and split my child age years between Louisiana and Tennessee. I’ve had the pleasure of serving as a school leader in schools that span grades K -12. In my last post, I served as a high school principal. Prior to that, I was an associate principal at Korea International School in a suburb of Seoul, South Korea. My international experience solidified my understanding of what it means to be a global citizen. I was given the opportunity to explore and discover new cultures and worlds that were unknown to me prior.

Education is about relationships and I love watching how students grow and change from one year to the next. All levels matter in school, but 4^th and 5^th grade are critical years where our demands for students to comprehend and articulate their thoughts truly increase. These levels provide a glimpse into the development of your child’s personal voice. We hope to see that voice grow during their time with us.  This is only achieved by maintaining an open school-to-home connection to ensure your children have the support they need to be successful learners. With that being said, I enjoy laughing and having a good time. I’m a firm believer that an effective elementary principal must always remember what it’s like to be a kid. I feel lucky to be able to tap into my childhood fun while also modeling respect, responsibility, and other attributes that we all want to see reflected in our students’ behavior and general interactions.

This year, I suspect you may see me out on the courts with kids during recess, high-fiving them in the morning when buses arrive, or chatting with them in the halls as we all go about our daily roles. We look forward to engaging both students and parents in learning experiences that provide students the opportunity to form positive relationships, develop self-confidence, and, most importantly, feel like a true part of the Joyce Kilmer family. If you’ve made it this far into the message, then I applaud you for reading this long narrative and am appreciative of your willingness to learn a little about me. I hope I will have the opportunity to learn a little about each and every one of your children as well as about you. Here’s to connecting better!

Go Thunderbirds!

Billy Bowie, Ed. D

Principal

Joyce Kilmer School

201-762-2270

bbowie@mahwah.k12.nj.us