One step inside the school and Dr. Shelly Butler already feels she’s in the right place. Looking around the school, Dr. Butler observes the athletic departments, the fine art departments as well as the academic hall of Legacy. After analyzing such observations, Dr. Butler decides that this is the place where she feels welcome.
Dr. Shelly Butler moved from her job as principal at Worley Middle School to Legacy. Butler chose Legacy for specific reasons such as the focus of the students, the exciting athletic games and the organization and intelligence of the teachers.
“Legacy is very inviting, from the outside looking in,” Dr. Butler said. “As a principal at another campus watching this campus, [I was] saying ‘I think I want to lead that campus.’”
Dr. Butler has worked with the Mansfield Independent School District for three years as a principal. Before MISD, Dr. Butler worked her first 10 years at Keller ISD. She was a teacher and a coach at Keller High School for her first year, then taught at Fossil Ridge High School for the other nine years. After that, Dr. Butler was an assistant principal for Haltom High School for three and a half years, and then went on to be a principal at an elementary for three and a half years.
“Everywhere I go my hope is to take an organization from good to great,” Dr. Butler said.
Dr. Butler had not planned on becoming a teacher. Both her parents were college professors, so Dr. Butler learned the art of grading papers when she was in fourth and fifth grade. When reaching college, she planned on going to medical school and majored in biology and chemistry. However, medical school did not work out for her, so her mom pushed an application in her hand and said “You need to go be a teacher.”
“I did it and I haven’t regretted [it] ever since,” Dr. Butler said. “I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”
Beginning in her sixth year of teaching, Dr. Butler began working on her principal certification, which she later completed in her tenth year of teaching. Dr. Butler took her time getting her principal certificate because she didn’t want to rush into it. Normally it takes two years worth of courses to get the certificate, but Dr. Butler took four years at the University of North Texas because she was still teaching and coaching. In the beginning, Dr. Butler sought to be an assistant principal and help lead other teachers with the same excitement that she lead with her 5A district champion track team with. Only later did the thought of becoming a principal hit her.
“The bug hit me, and I was like ‘Oh it seems fun. It seems exciting’ to lead a group not only of teachers, but students as well,” Dr. Butler said. “So I became a principal. I never planned this. It just kind of happened.”
Her secretary Barbara Chambers worked with the previous principals at Legacy. She says each one had a different personality, but all brought something to Legacy’s character. When working with Dr. Butler for the past two weeks, Chambers sees a great leader and a future asset to Legacy. Chambers thinks teachers will adapt to Dr. Butler’s leadership very quickly.
“She is a really wonderful lady,” Chambers said. “She has been a joy to work with so far.”
Dr. Butler, coming into Legacy, sees pockets of excellence here and there, from the Special Education Department to the Fine Arts Department and more. Dr. Butler wants to see a systemic greatness, where every department comes together to form one strong, growing field. She sees potential for Legacy in the near future, such as becoming a premiere high school. For example, Dr. Butler sees an opportunity with the AVID class that she has seen work really well at her old campus, Worley. Dr. Butler hopes for Legacy to become a beacon for other campuses to view.
“Kind of like Southlake’s campus,” Dr. Butler said, “because when you say ‘Southlake’ people are like ‘That’s a great school’, so when they say ‘Legacy’, I want the same.”
