TOWAMENCIN – Only a few weeks ago, Ms. Mary Scott was spending her days in the classroom, teaching her AP Biology students about genetics and cell division. Today, however, Scott can be found in her new temporary home at North Penn: the assistant principal office in Home Office E112.

The opportunity for Scott to leave her classroom and assume the challenging new role of assistant principal was presented suddenly, leaving her only one day to decide whether or not to take on the position that was left vacant after former assistant principal Mr. Neil Broxterman was appointed head principal at A.M. Kulp Elementary.

“[They asked me], ‘could you do it?’, and then they wanted an answer the very next day. I was shifted out of my classroom and everything just happened really quickly,” explained Scott. “I was only able to shadow Mr. Broxterman for about a day.”

On March 20^th, Scott became a teacher on special assignment and quickly began to settle in to the new roles she assumed. The two-time former class advisor became the administrative liaison to the senior class, putting her in charge of the Class of 2015 graduation and the upcoming senior prom. In addition, Scott became in charge of student discipline, a role that has her meeting with multiple students a day individually.

“It’s certainly a different aspect of education,” said Scott.

The daily piles of papers to grade and classes to teach have been replaced with disciplinary papers to process and students to meet with one on one, causing Scott to experience an unfamiliar side of North Penn High School.

“All of a sudden, it’s ‘oh my God, I don’t have any papers to take home,’” said Scott.

A lighter homework load and a less regimented schedule certainly don’t mean that Scott’s days are any less busy. Quickly, she found out that the schedule of an assistant principal can’t be planned in advance.

“Last Tuesday, I walked in and the only thing on my calendar was a meeting at 10:15, and other than that, my schedule was clear. Of course, that all changed within fifteen seconds,” she said, describing the number of students who come in to her office for unplanned meetings throughout the day.

The former biology teacher is no stranger to quickly adapting to a new environment: in 2005, Scott began teaching at North Penn after working at the much smaller and all-male Northeast Catholic High School in Philadelphia for ten years. During her time as class advisor to the classes of 2011 and 2014, Scott was responsible for more students in one grade than there had been students in four grades at Northeast Catholic.

“The first time I walked into the auditorium and saw my sophomores, I was like ‘okay…’ and I almost started walking back out of the auditorium,” Scott recalls, laughing. Quickly, however, Scott realized that she was capable of taking on such a big task.

Scott’s position as assistant principal, though only a temporary one, has the opportunity to turn into a more long-term employment when the permanent position becomes available over the summer. However, Scott isn’t making any predictions about the future: when asked whether she is looking to extend her time in the assistant principal’s office, she merely mentioned that she would have to wait a while to find out the answer herself.

“A week [on the job] is too soon to tell,” she said.