The new principal at Central Middle School is feeling right at home as he focuses on building relationships with people around him.
Jay Payne has returned to Central, where he served as the school’s assistant principal for five years. He left for a promotion to principal at Smith Elementary School, where he served the past four years.
Now Payne has been promoted again, stepping in for Randy Gratz, Central’s principal from 2003 until his retirement at the end of 2017-18 school year.
For Payne, his return to Central has been a positive one so far.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
“The transition’s been pretty good,” Payne said. “The kids have been really good and welcoming.”
For starters, Payne is taking time getting to know individuals that he encounters, joking that he is working to learn the name of each of his 878 students who are either in seventh or eighth grades.
“Trying to build relationships with students, staff and parents is my number-one goal right now,” he said.
Interacting with students is also his favorite part of the job, the principal said.
Payne, who has been with the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. since 2000, joined the district as a Columbus North High School dean of students and a basketball coach.
His career path as a principal began as an assistant at Central, followed by his first top-principal job at Smith Elementary. Next was his promotion over the summer that brought him back to Central in the top job.
Homecoming, normally later in the fall, came early for Payne this year.
“I knew this was where I needed to be,” he said.
Central Middle School has also been a big part of Payne’s family. His three children — Tanner, Tucker and Jackson — all attended the middle school.
How others see him
Payne is working alongside assistant principal Blake Manuel, who initially met Payne as an eighth-grade U.S. history teacher in 2013.
“He’s very much relationship-driven,” Manuel said. “Whatever it takes for the kids to be successful, that’s what he wants to do.”
Manuel said he and Payne are also working to make some changes for the school’s Connections class period that is used as a study hall to help students focus on building their developmental assets.
Developmental assets are spread across eight broad areas of human development, said Heather Carson, director of the Council for Youth Development.
External assets — support, empowerment, boundaries and expectations, and constructive use of time — focus on relationships and opportunities that create a positive environment for young people, Carson said.
Internal assets — commitment to learning, positive values, social competencies and positive identity — reflect personal character strengths, social-emotional skills and attitudes that young people also need to fully engage with and function in the world around them, she said.
“We’re making small changes, but we think they’ll have a big impact on students in the school,” Manuel said. “It’s really looking at the whole student.”
Trisha Burns, who has taught math at Central for seven years, got to know Payne during his first stint at Central.
“He has a positive outlook and is passionate in helping everyone live up to their potential,” Burns said.
Payne, a native of Hartford City located north of Muncie, said he wants to help students develop their social and emotional skills within themselves.
“In middle school, they’re kind of in that transition period,” Payne said.
The students are no longer in elementary school, but not quite prepared for the independence of high school.
“I love that time to try to help them find their way,” he said.
Payne joined his fellow family members in pursuing a career in the education field, noting that his uncle was a superintendent, while cousins and a sister have also been involved in education.
“I’m very much about relationships and I love being around people,” Payne said. “I’m excited about being the leader of Central Middle School. I feel like I’m home.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Jay Payne” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Age: 52
Education: Bachelor’s degree in math from Purdue University; master’s degree in administration from Butler University
Work history: Payne started with Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. in 2000 as dean of students at Columbus North High School, where he also served as a basketball coach. He was promoted to assistant principal at Central Middle School, where he served for five years before being hired as principal at Smith Elementary School.
Before coming to BCSC, he taught math at Lebanon High School and Tri-Central Community Schools.
Family: Wife Michelle; sons, Tanner, Tucker and Jackson
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Coming Monday” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Profiles of new elementary school principals Kaity Day and Casey Voelz
[sc:pullout-text-end]
