Bay City High School’s new principal, Dr. Mary Bashara
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Dr. Mary Bashara stepped into the role of BCHS principal full-time on July 1, after Walt Wendtland retired. Bashara comes to Bay City ISD from Austin ISD and LBJ High School, where she was an assistant principal.
At LBJ, the student body is divided into three houses, with each different house covering a broad career pathway. Bashara was the head of the Business and Technology House. Through her position at LBJ, Bashara got to be a part of the robotics competitions, the engineering program and other academic competitions. She anticipates sharing those experiences at BCHS.
Bashara did her undergraduate studies at Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University), and holds teaching certifications in Spanish, English, Government, Bilingual, ESL and Elementary education. She completed two Ph.D programs at The
University of Texas at Austin, and spent 24 years as a teacher before moving into school administration. She also speaks, reads and writes Spanish fluently. Bashara has two children: Kasey, a child therapist, and Brandon, a Ph.D student at UT in Information
Science.
Bashara began her administrative career in 1998 as an assistant elementary principal at Pecan Springs Elementary in Austin ISD. She then moved on to assistant principal positions at Lanier High School and Lyndon B. Johnson High School in Austin ISD. She served one year in central administration at Austin ISD and one year as principal at Austin Can! Charter School. “Frankly, Bay City and BCHS fit the profile I was looking for when I decided I wanted to take on a new career challenge,” Bashara said. “I only applied for positions where I thought I’d like to live. I like the coast, but I like being close to a city. When I saw the BCHS principal position posted, I did some research and visited Bay City.
It’s a charming city. It is clean, has beautiful trees, and the historic homes are gorgeous. As a longtime supporter of athletics, I knew of the reputation of BCHS as a school that had won state titles in several sports in stiff 4A competition.
When I came here to interview, I was impressed that 15 people sat on the hiring committee, and I liked all of them. The things the committee asked me were areas I realized I could really contribute. The questions were clearly academic, and I felt I had the experience to help lead the school academically. And the beach sealed the deal for me!”
Bashara offered that one thing she will bring to BCHS is her expertise in research and data analysis. “BCHS has some really high achievers and some students who have not achieved mastery yet as measured by state performance assessments. We want to eliminate these achievement gaps. I’ve been part of successful score raising efforts in the past. There are definitely deliberate things we can do to support teachers and students in this,” she said.
Already Bashara has met with Superintendent Keith Brown and all the BCHS assistant principals about some of her ideas. She said, “Everyone’s on board. We are going to work with great urgency, and we will continue to support the great things already going on at BCHS.”
According to Superintendent Brown, “A district site-based committee was utilized to interview nine potential candidates from around the state. Thirty-seven people applied for the principal position. The committee was comprised of six teachers, one community/parent representative, two school board members and four central administrators.
The committee was involved in every step of the process and was vital in formulating input that led to the final recommendation to employ Dr. Mary Bashara.”
“My dad was a superintendent,” Bashara said, “and I’ve spent a lifetime in education. I love students, and am energized by them. They are uplifting. I’m a creative person, and I loved teaching. But I can contribute in a greater area as an administrator. We all have memories from our school years, and I want to be a part of helping make students’ school memories better while preparing them for college and life success.”