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Citizen of the Year: Dominion principal brings personalized education to Loudoun
For six years, John Brewer has made it his mission to make a school of more than 1,200 students feel small.The 39-year-old Brewer, principal at Dominion High School, has created an intimate, close-knit community in the Sterling school through the use of small academic teams, an emphasis on extracurricular activities, and the implementation of a Clubhouse, where diverse groups of 12 students meet a few times a week throughout their four years at the school.
"A school is so much more than bricks and mortar," Brewer said. "It's about a culture. You have to build it from the ground up. Over the years, we've built upon our foundation and become the kind of school we want to be."
Brewer, of Ashburn, was chosen as the Loudoun Times-Mirror's Citizen of the Year for 2008.
The 1,238 students at Dominion are proud to be Titans, Brewer said. They each feel like they have a stake in their own education, and that makes them work harder to achieve their goals, he said.
Dominion senior Christelle Khattar said that is what makes attending her high school so special – and Brewer is an important part of the experience.
"Dr. Brewer is the definition of dedication. He eats and breathes Dominion High School," she said. "He is really remarkable and unique among other principals because he's so active in a student's life. Students from other schools don't see their principals as much as we see ours."
The personal learning environment at Dominion, the county's smallest public high school, has helped the students improve academically.
This year, 43 of its seniors were honored for earning a 4.0 or higher grade point average -- the second highest number of seniors honored in Loudoun's public high schools. Stone Bridge in Ashburn was first.
The school's Men on a Mission campaign, which targets black males, has led to a 50 percent drop in the failure rate for that student group over the last two years. The Clubhouse, where students meet with their peers, has led to a 33 percent drop in the failure rate for all students in four years, Brewer said.
"All kinds of educational research suggests kids need personal relationships at school to be successful, " he said. "This is a very personal high school. We set out years ago to accomplish what we've done, and we've done a great job making this a reality. Every student here is well known by caring adults."
Brewer can relate to the small school philosophy. He grew up outside Buffalo, N.Y., and he graduated from high school in a class of just 42 students.
Since then, working in Loudoun County, first as a math teacher, then as assistant principal at Broad Run High School, and now as principal at Dominion, he has carried on his desire to create an intimate learning environment.
Using teams, Dominion created "a school within a school" by breaking up students into groups of 75 to 100 and assigning them a specific group of teachers for all their classes.
Even before Dominion was built, Brewer canvassed Sterling neighborhoods to ensure that he personally introduced himself and spoke to parents of students who would be attending the new high school.
Kevin Terry, director of guidance at Dominion, remembers going along on some of the outings in the cold January of 2003.
"[Brewer] wore out I believe two pairs of shoes," Terry said. "We'd go neighborhood by neighborhood, visiting all the Titans, talking about our expectations and hopes. ... Now as a principal, the focus is the same. Everything we do here is to try to make the bigger school a smaller school and make sure each student is known by as many people as can be."
Along with his work, Brewer said he loves spending time with his family -- his wife, Rachel, and daughters Belle, 12, and Abby, 10.
Faith is also an important part of his life, he said. He is an elder at Faith Bible Church in Sterling.
Brianna Hammond, a 2008 Dominion graduate who attends Penn State, said being at a big university is a huge change from Dominion.
"It's such a difference from the small community and personal environment that Dr. Brewer created," she said. "When I went back to visit the high school with a few friends, he acknowledged each of us and asked us how school was going. The ... environment that he created in high school definitely helped me in the difficult transition to college."
Brewer said Hammond's experience is similar to that of many other graduates who come back to visit Dominion because they have formed such a strong bond with the school.
"My favorite part of my job is being able to interact with our students," Brewer said. "I hope in some small way I can be a positive role model of what a man should be -- a kind person, faithful, competent, professional, and someone they can count on."
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