Charlottesville High School is kicking off the 2024-25 school year with a new principal, Justin Malone. Since starting on July 1, Malone has worked to get CHS ready for students to return.
“I was ordered a new desk when I came on board and then went on vacation,” says Malone. “When I came back, not only was my old desk removed, but the new desk hadn’t arrived … So I have been here since July 1 without a desk.”
While waiting on his desk to arrive, Malone has been working out of a conference room by the main office. Three of the four walls to the room are glass, allowing the new principal to stay engaged with the school community—something he plans to keep up during the school year.
“I’m constantly navigating and going through this building to be a presence so that people can see me,” says Malone. Getting to know the school community, both new and returning faces, is key for the principal and something he hopes to foster among the incoming freshman class through the Link Crew program.
As CHS’ main initiative for helping freshmen with the transition into high school, the Link Crew program comprises roughly 70 juniors and seniors selected to mentor the incoming freshman class. Link Crew leaders will check in on the ninth graders throughout the year, helping the underclassmen settle in academically and socially.
“The structure of it is meant to sort of demystify what high school could be like or areas that might be just on a freshman’s mind about what to do when,” says Malone. “We have a full day of training helping workshop some activities that [the Link Crew mentors] will then lead with our freshmen.”
Beyond the peer mentoring program, Malone has also highlighted staffing and community-building as top priorities.
Staffing shortages were a major factor in the unexpected closure of CHS last November, when several instructors called out following student fights. Longtime local instructor Kenneth Leatherwood stepped up as interim principal in the wake of the closure and unexpected departure of former principal Rashaad Pitt.
The school is now fully staffed outside of some additional needs in the science department, according to Malone.
“I’m really proud of our staff,” he says. “They know this community well, and they embrace the experiences and the students that are a part of Charlottesville High School in a way that helps to express our students’ talents, our students’ capacity, our students’ identity. Our staff sees that and welcomes it and helps champion that.”
To help foster community and accountability, CHS has also implemented a new digital hall pass system this year. Through the digital system, instructors will be able to not only set an expected duration and location for student passes, but monitor the number of students school-wide sent to an area at one time. Limiting the number of students outside of class in a given location allows instructors and administrators to prevent large groups from meeting or coordinating fights in the hallways. With 1,430 students—the highest enrollment in the school’s history—set to attend CHS this fall, this is especially vital.
“We’re thoughtful about when we’re sending students to [other] spaces,” says Malone. “We’re thoughtful about the number of students that we’re sending to certain locations, and in doing so, we’re all able to prioritize the time that students are in their classes.”
“Coming into this year, we know that Charlottesville High School is a very special place, and we have prepared for the expectation that students are going to be where they need to be,” says Malone. “We have a staff that is ready to engage them in meaningful, engaging experiences in the classroom, and our administrative team and our [Care and Safety Assistants] are in a position to help make sure that the students are [not] in unauthorized spaces when they shouldn’t be.”
Since returning from virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, engaging with students and the community has been an ongoing effort in Charlottesville City Schools. At the core of that effort is a return to regular community-building activities, including school sports and dances.
“So much of what we heard over and over again last year from teachers and students was that, really, the issues that came up in the fall were still kind of post-COVID, post-being away from school for such a long time,” says CCS Community Relations Coordinator Amanda Korman. “By that point none of these kids have been to a pep rally, none of these kids have had a normal dance or a prom. … All those normal cultural, positive things that keep a high school together.”
“To a large extent, it’s super important and we’re going to keep building out beyond Link Crew, creating experiences for students,” says Malone. “Our work will always continue to be, ‘How do we create and connect students with meaningful experiences that are part of the high school experience?’”