Robinwood principal to retire after long career

By JESSICA HARDIN

jhardin@vindy.com

BOARDMAN

In anticipation of his retirement at the end of the school year, Principal Don Robinson added his hand print to the Robinwood Lane Elementary “Wall of Fame.”

He started the tradition 14 years ago when he became principal of the school. Each child that graduates from Robinwood Lane marks the wall with a handprint.

It’s a fitting end to Robinson’s 40 year career in education.

He eschews the image of a principal as a distant disciplinarian. Instead, he knows every child and prides himself on being accessible to his students.

And those aren’t just words to him.

When a fire tore through an apartment building on Mathews Road early Monday, a student whose home was damaged by smoke approached him to talk.

Robinson returned from a meeting with a note saying, “Dale wants to talk to you.”

“He just came in and sat on my knee and told me all about it,” Robinson said. “He just needed to talk about it.”

Being a good principal requires being visible, Robinson said. He works bus duty every morning and afternoon.

Next year, bus duty will be a lot easier — he’ll only be in charge of getting his grandchildren off to school in the morning. In his retirement, Robinson plans to spend time with his wife, two daughters and five grandchildren. He just moved to a condo in Poland and is looking forward to walking, running and bicycling in the Poland Woods.

Robinson will be replaced by Billie Jo Johnson, the principal of Market Street Elementary, which will close at the end of the school year.

Robinson was Johnson’s mentor when she started in the district three years ago.

“She’s the right person at the right time,” Robinson said.

Although he doesn’t plan to return to the school as Johnson starts her tenure there, he promised his young students that when he passes the school, he will honk his horn.

“When you hear a honk right out front,” he told them, “You’ll know Mr. Robinson is passing by.”