Jeanette Dibella and Egotism

Funny observation. The point of entry I see the most on my stats page is that someone is googling "Jeanette Dibella." Hmm. I wonder who googles herself this often. So I tried googling her name to see if my blog comes up. It's on the second page--not a bad place considering my jeanettedibella blogs were all shut down! And also considering that the first page is filled with her own blogs full of platitudinous information.

"As a principal of one of the most successful and respected schools in the country..."
"Jeanette Dibella believes in the private school model..."
"Jeanette Dibella acts as a guiding beacon over the teachers she leads..." 

Yikes. FYI, Jeanette, bloggers don't talk about themselves in the third person (so remember to tell the English teacher who keeps up your blogs) and they also don't use blogs as a resume. A really cheesy resume.

I remember working under Jeanette. She was never mean to me---she has department heads who faithfully do her dirty work. She protects her own reputation very well this way. I do remember the narcissism though, like calling in other interns to give them romantic advice. One staff member had a boyfriend she personally knew and disapproved of. She called her into the office to give a long talk about choosing the right person, and how she didn't in her own personal life. Talk about unprofessional. She also hired a married couple to work at the school, and tried her best to get one of them fired, while keeping the other one. Makes for an awkward environment, at best.

Once at a staff meeting, she chastised the teachers for a good fifteen minutes about how she overheard a teacher talking sarcastically about a student. She then started tearing up. I initially thought, wow this principal really loves the students! Then she said this little nugget:

"If you think your job is so hard that you have to be sarcastic, try walking a mile in my shoes. 

In. My. Shoes."

With tears, dramatic pauses, and randomized piercing looks, it was the most entertaining staff meeting I'd ever experienced. When we left the meeting, I thought all the teachers would laugh or fume about it in their own rooms, like I used to with my coworkers from public schools. What happened instead, was that many teachers met clandestinely and confessed they thought Jeanette was talking about them, and how frightened they felt from the meeting. Some teachers laughed about how they have visceral "Jeanette twitches." In all my years of teaching, I've never seen a school leader as manipulative as Jeanette. It's sad because if she were able to be self-reflective or humble at all, she truly could be a guiding beacon for the teachers and students.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure it's possible.