October marks National Principals Month, and we want to honor the principals who work hard in our vision of making the Arlington ISD a premier school district and leader in education.
Today we’re spotlighting Seguin High School first-year principal Billy Linson. Linson has been with the district since 2010 and was the assistant principal at Seguin before taking over this summer. The assistant principal gene runs in the family with Linson as his wife Takyra Linson is an assistant principal at Bailey Junior High. Linson’s first year as been fun, too. He’s not only getting used to being a principal, he’s also helping launch the new P-TECH program at Seguin that opens in the fall of 2023.
You were a teacher and a coach. Why did you want to become a principal?
I enjoyed being a coach. The reason I wanted to get into admin was I was going to have my daughter that summer. To spend more time with her, and with my wife being a drill team director at that time, we were both in the coaching world. I wanted to spend more time with my family.
How hard is it when you come home not to talk about school with your wife?
It is extremely hard. We’re always trying to go back and forth about what happened in our days. Sometimes we’re trying to one-up each other. We have to find time to decompress and not make it about school. We have to make it about our personal lives and family.
Is that easy to do?
Not at all. It consumes so much of our time. There’s a lot of good that comes with that, but it takes some work.
You’re a first-year principal and trying to build a P-TECH program. Is that hard to juggle?
It’s an added layer, but it’s a good layer we think can help us build and attract to our campus. We have good infrastructure and a good staff on board. Adding a P-TECH program is going to add another good layer to the things we have going at Seguin.
What’s your favorite thing about being a principal?
The kids. I love interacting with kids on a regular basis, and serving the kids is what we’re in the business for. That’s why I’m in the educational field.
What’s your least favorite part about it?
Sometimes that can be the kids, too [laughs]. On the flip side, at the end of the day it’s about the kids and giving them the opportunity to be something better so they can advance in life.
How much of the job is administration vs. people management?
I think the majority is people management. If you can manage the staff, manage the parents and manage the students, then everything else kind of rolls into place. You know the administrative role is part of the job, but when you have the people all rolling in the same direction that’s when you’re making progress.