Tardiness Targeted In Principal’s First Full Year

In an effort to cut into chronic absenteeism rates and make sure that teens are showing up to class on time, Hillhouse Principal Dr. Antoine Billy has started handing out business cards — including at a nearby McDonald’s — as he asks the community to keep him in the know about students who skip or aren’t in school when they should be.

Billy reflected on that effort, among others, as he has worked to decrease Hillhouse’s student chronic absenteeism rate from 57.6 percent last year to 47 percent so far this year, during his first full year as the school’s principal.

Billy shared that update and more during a recent interview with the Independent. At the start of this school year, one of Billy’s goals was to decrease the school’s chronic absenteeism rate to 52 percent. (The district defines a student as chronically absent if they have missed 10 percent of school days or more.)

This school year is Billy’s first full year on the job after stepping up to helm the city’s second-largest high school in February 2024. Now 15 months in, he said he feels he’s getting to a place where ​“surprises are less each day.”

His goals for leading the school remain the same since he started — which is to support Hillhouse’s students as they strive for greatness every single day. 

To work on decreasing chronic absenteeism and tardiness, Billy has canvassed the Sherman Parkway school’s neighborhood to give community members his business card, asking that they notify him if students are skipping school in a nearby park, McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, or corner store. ​“Call me if you see them,” is his message.

The school’s average chronic absenteeism rates remained in the low-30 percentages until major cold weather events in January and February caused the chronic absenteeism rate to increase to 47 percent, he said.

So far, Billy said, he’s focused primarily on observing and learning about the current state of Hillhouse to then inform future improvements. He thanked his team for seeing his vision for rebuilding Hillhouse’s foundation. Hillhouse had 11 vacancies last school year, Billy reported. This year, he said, it currently has none.

A change he has already made is bringing consistency to Hillhouse’s leadership by remaining at the helm of the school.

He stepped into Hillhouse’s top role after a revolving door of permanent and interim principals in recent years: In March 2022, Glen Worthy stepped down as Hillhouse principal after six years in the job. Retired former Wilbur Cross Principal Peggy Moore filled in as interim until Mark Sweeting took over in July 2022. Moore then returned to serve another stint as interim Hillhouse principal in August 2023 after Sweeting resigned. 

Billy said that, over the last year, he’s sought to model excellence for his students through his focus on relationship building, accountability, and high expectations for all. 

Next year he aims to take more risks, he said, as he now feels he’s observed a lot to help him continue to raise the bar for Hillhouse students and staff. 

Focusing On First Years

Billy noted that setting the bar high for ninth graders is a task he looks forward to next year. 

It’s also one that he began working on this school year. He reported that last year, 63 percent of ninth graders at Hillhouse were on track to move on to be sophomores. As of last Thursday, Billy reported that his team has surpassed his initial growth goal and has 71 percent of first-year students on track to move to become tenth graders. 

He attributed this growth to Hillhouse’s staff enhancing its Tier One intervention efforts, meaning they don’t wait until students begin to show drastic academic decline or behavioral struggles and instead intervene with support early on. 

He noted that many Hillhouse teachers have also been pulling students for ​“lunch bunches,” which are early intervention groups aimed at connecting with any students — but particularly first-years — who have sudden changes to their grades or are beginning to fall through the cracks.

When it comes to expectations for first-year students, Billy said his team looked beyond the state’s six-courses-a-semester requirement for ninth graders and required first years to take seven courses. 

“We’re pushing them to be great because I know they can meet the bar no matter how high,” he said. 

He added that the school has also implemented a cohort support model for first-years. This means each of Hillhouse’s four assistant principals is assigned to oversee a grade cohort. Each of the cohorts also has an assigned school counselor, truancy staffer, social worker, and retention and drop out specialists to provide students with a dedicated team of wraparound services. 

The groups meet weekly to discuss students’ needs and arrange interventions for classes 2025 – 2028. The freshmen team stays with their group for one year and then passes it off to the next assistant principal, who stays with the group for three years of the high school career. 

“Relationships are built, but the freshmen team builds the foundation of being successful in school,” Billy explained. 

Manufacturing Lab Opened, Culinary To Come?

Billy said he shares about his own upbringing with his students to show that he too once attended public school hungry, late, and at times with a distracted mind full of outside responsibilities. He demonstrates to his students that he’s now a principal with a doctorate, showing youth ​“what you can be,” he said. 

“Did you know Dr. Antonio Billy, the principal, had to stay in high school for five years and lost a football scholarship because of bad decisions?” he recalls telling his students. 

“This is by far the best job I’ve ever had in my life,” he said about being Hillhouse’s principal.

One challenge Billy is looking ahead to addressing is how the school can better support its students who fail to meet graduation requirements and continue to be held back.

He learned this year that many of the these students are interested in a culinary program, and so he’s working to bring one to Hillhouse. 

He recalled a conversation he had with a student who had missed a full year of school who told him, ​“I heard Hillhouse is changing.” 

Billy said he believes students are seeing the recent work being put into making Hillhouse more welcoming and positively known in the community. The school’s number of fights has decreased by 50 percent so far, he added. 

Next year, Billy hopes to make monthly efforts to meet with the school’s student government association to hear student voices in a more formal setting beyond the daily student input he receives while walking the school’s hallways. 

He also hopes to focus in on providing the tools and partnerships needed for the school to support all students in improving their reading comprehension and algebraic skills, which are two areas that he’s observed over the last year need work. 

He added that social-emotional skill development will continue to be a focus to help students in time management, conflict resolution, and relationship building. 

This year the school started up a DECA club, and it had over a dozen students graduate from an Excel Academy Certified Nursing Assistant Training Program just last week. 

In April, a ribbon was cut on Hillhouse’s manufacturing lab, which has been years in the making and now has a waitlist of interested students. Billy also hopes to build up student interest in the school’s construction and automotive programs. 

No More Ski Masks In School

Additionally this year Hillhouse staffers studied author Baruti Kafele’s book ​“Closing the Attitude Gap: How to Fire Up Your Students to Strive for Success.”

Billy said the book helped him to refocus his leadership work on one root problem, which he described as students’ shift in attitudes about school. He said he believes expectations have been lowered for students, making it so students are less engaged. He wants to raise expectations. 

For mid-term testing this year, Billy also set a strict rule for attendance, requiring students to make it to school by 8;10 a.m. or else they would have to wait until the afternoon midterm makeup session. He saw many students who are typically tardy get to school on time as a result of the higher expectations. The school plans to set this rule again for its finals schedule requiring students to arrive on time for the morning testing.

Billy also said that he plans to implement a policy next school year restricting students from wearing ski masks during the school day. He noted that it’s been a common issue this year that he’s made students aware won’t be tolerated next year. 

“The work is in the class and not outside the class,” he said. ​“You get here and go to class and we’ll take care of the rest.”