Meet Amanda Macias, New Evangelical School Principal

GODFREY - The Evangelical United Church of Christ School in Godfrey will welcome Amanda Macias as their new principal this year.

Macias previously taught at Alton High School before serving as the principal at North Greene Junior and Senior High School for five years. She doesn’t have as much experience working with elementary school students, but she’s excited for the chance to learn and get involved with the Evangelical community.

“I’m really excited about this new adventure in my life,” Macias said. She joked that her time at North Greene has prepared her for almost anything. “Your feet hit the ground running, and that first year, I just probably couldn’t even tell you my name…The learning that I did there was amazing. I’m not near as nervous for my first year at this job.”

This summer, Macias has been adjusting to her new role and noting the differences between public and private schools. She has done a lot of research on grants that Evangelical is eligible for, and she hopes to bring in as much money as possible for students.

In the weeks leading up to the first day of school, she can be found in the office, digitizing paperwork and getting to know the staff. Macias expressed her gratitude for the teachers and faculty members who have already supported her.

“When you come in as a new principal to a building, you are kind of anxious because you don’t know the staff. And [previous principal Maria Baalman] just reiterated to me more than once how the staff there gels and gets along,” Macias said. “So when I did come in to meet the staff, they were all very, very welcoming.”

While Macias has a lot of experience, she’s the first to acknowledge that she has primarily worked with older students. Evangelical teaches kids from preschool to eighth grade, so this will be her first time working with younger children.

“It’s a new experience for me,” she said. “I’ve really not spent a ton of time around little people other than my own, my friends’, my nieces and nephews….I’m like, ‘Am I going to come in here and make these little kids cry? Am I going to be too tough?’ But I do have a good group of teachers there that are like, ‘We will help you learn how to work with little people.’”

Macias uses humor to relate to students and encourage them to follow the rules, but she always keeps her expectations “firm, fair and consistent.” She believes that every child and every situation is different, so she takes that into account when acting as a disciplinarian.

Though she knows a principal isn’t always “the most popular person in the room,” Macias hopes people will understand that she wants what’s best for Evangelical kids. She tries to make decisions based on what will help the most students, teachers, staff members and parents.

“I don’t think a lot of people really know what administrators do because they’re ‘the man.’ And I know, I was a teacher for so many years, and I was like, ‘Fight the man!’” Macias joked. “So I think that sometimes administrators get a bad rap. People don’t necessarily always understand the decisions that we have to make and what we have to do. But it’s all in the best interest of the kids.”

And she’s incredibly excited to meet those kids soon. Evangelical will host an open house on Sunday, Aug. 13. Families can attend Evangelical’s church service at 10 a.m. before the open house at 11 a.m.

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