In the Right Place
New Legacy principal feels job is ‘made for her’

As the brand-new shine wears off of the Legacy Early College High School program, administrators are smoothly working toward the program’s original goal — to give high school students the opportunity to earn both their high school diploma and an Associate’s Degree in four years.

But with three cohorts of students — freshman, sophomores and juniors — filling the East Williamson County Higher Education Center building nearly to the brim, the addition of a fourth freshman class next year threatens to overload the classrooms.

“I came with a shoehorn,” said new Legacy Principal Norma Marquardt, joking about the serious issue of space in the program — one of several challenges she has been faced with during her first few months on the job.

“There haven’t been any problems, just challenges,” Marquardt said. “There’s that learning curve where we’re making adjustments and finding out what had worked previously and what things need fine-tuning.”

Regular issues “that every principal has,” Marquardt said, at Legacy include meeting the needs of the freshman class, having to adjust to the fluctuating student population and helping meet the needs of students as they mature. Marquardt has had to address these challenges and stay flexible and open to ideas.

“I love challenges,” Marquardt said. “It’s like a puzzle to figure out and to be able to put a check mark on an issue. You have to come back in a month and resolve it, but that’s what keeps us young and invigorated.”

Marquardt will begin meeting with middle school students in January to gain some new recruits into the program and to begin the application process. She is also working to host family nights at middle schools in Taylor and Hutto to help inform parents about the program and the purpose of Legacy.

“Sometimes it’s good to have that face-to-face communication,” Marquardt said. “That’s in the works when we come back.”

With the performance of the students as evidence, the program is doing exactly what it was established to do. The students are performing well on benchmark examinations and in both college and high school courses.

“I couldn’t be happier with the progress of the students on campus,” Marquardt said. “In addition (to academic performance), the juniors are working on choosing a mascot for the school and designing a letterman jacket, and this year we’re going to have a yearbook. There’s a lot of excitement getting those pieces of high school with the college experience as well.”

For the future, Marquardt plans for expansion. The schedule will expand from a half-day to a full-day schedule, and the campus will expand to include more students.

“Legacy faculty needs access to all four grade levels throughout the day so we can help the students where they need help the most,” Marquardt said. “Doing that has been difficult if not impossible because of limited space at EWCHEC.

“EWCHEC is working with our partners to open up the facility issue and really find the space so that Temple College can grow. They’ve had tremendous growth in the facility this year.”

Legacy must expand to a full-day program to satisfy Texas Education Agency requirements for the dual-credit program, Marquardt said. Since the flagship building for EWCHEC appears to be a long way off, temporary expansion may be the more viable solution in the short run.

“We did look into portables,” Marquardt said. “That is one of the options that is being explored. We should be hearing something soon. Since I’m recruiting in January and February, we should have a decision by mid-February on what will be the answer to the space issue.”

Marquardt feels confident in her new position in spite of the challenges in continuing to expand the new program. Former Legacy Principal Richard Kolek, now the principal of Taylor Middle School, laid a firm groundwork to satisfy the needs of the students, Marquardt said.

“I’m glad to come in and finish, to complete the journey that he began,” Marquardt said. “It’s amazing how rewarding this job is. It’s almost as if was made for me. It’s challenging, and there’s a lot of work to be done. I think I’ve worked harder than I have in my entire history as an educator, but it’s so rewarding that I feel so good in the end. I feel like I’m in the right place.”