Meet Marc Procaccini. New Principal at Southern High School

Marc Procaccini is back at Southern High School.

And this time he’s in charge.

Procaccini became the new principal on June 27, when the Anne Arundel County Board of Education announced a series of administrative staff changes. He’s getting things ready for students who will return on Aug. 27 (9th graders) and Aug. 28 (10, 11 and 12 graders).

He served as an administrator at Southern for three years (under Mary Alice Todd and then Patricia Plitt), but was transferred last year to Old Mill. He moved to Southern at the end of June.

“It was a little bit of a surprise,” he said. “But I was very eager to become a principal.”

Since he began occupying the office earlier this summer he said that it is his goal to make the school the heart of the community.

Principal Marc Procaccini

“I want it to be a focal point.”

Procaccini said that he wants to start with “Football Fridays,” where at each home game they will have a sort of festival for South County families.

“It will be like tailgating—without the alcohol,” he said.

His plan is to have booths for children’s activities, a DJ playing music and everything and anything with the Southern Bulldogs logo—like temporary tattoos and face-painting for the children. He likes the idea of getting the younger students in the feeder schools feeling comfortable on the Southern campus.

On the academic side, Procaccini wants to see the continuation of innovation and growth for students in agriculture science and art, with veteran teachers Dr. Joshua Rice and Michael Bell continuing their  work in their respective fields.

But he would also like to see students challenging themselves more, taking Advance Placement (AP) courses.

“It would be nice if a majority of kids that come here would take at least one AP course by graduation,” he said.

He said that he would also like to begin building on relationships with area businesses so that students in South County are able to take advantage of internships and job visits so that students can have practical experience in their fields of study.

“I particularly think that students on a partial schedule would benefit from an internship,” he said.

He said that he is excited to work with Marlyn Harmon on the school’s Signature Program, a highlighted/specialized area of study available to students. Any businesses that would like to establish a relationship with the school should contact either Harmon or Procaccini at 410-867-7100.

Procaccini said that he hasn’t done a lot in terms of reaching out to teachers, because he knows most of the staff from his three years as an adminstrator. He has a few hires to complete before school starts, and he has been interviewing candidates so that all positions will be filled by the time the doors open in late August.

As a former and renewed ‘Dawg, Procaccini said he wants to change the school motto from, “Bulldogs Build Success,” to “Southern High: Pride of South County.”

He said that wants to see a serious commitment from all the athletic teams and coaches. Fall sports at the school will get underway August 11. Procaccini said that there is no reason why South County athletes can’t compete head-on with some of the bigger schools in the county in all sports.

Procaccini said that he has learned a lot from the different principals he has served under, and he reminds himself of one of those lessons regularly. It is something South River Principal Will Myers told him when he served at the Edgewater school:

“People will come to you with problems; they rarely come with solutions. You have to be a problem-solver and a decision-maker,” Procaccini recalled.

He’s hoping to do both at Southern.

Editor’s Note: The Board of Education moved Principal Patricia Plitt from Southern High School to assistant principal at Severn River Middle School on June 27.