Natalie Hebert new principal at Seventh Ward Elementary

Don’t try to fix things that are not broken, the old saying goes.
Natalie Hebert has followed that line of thinking pretty closely after taking over as principal at Seventh Ward Elementary. Hebert replaces principal Priscilla Cormier, who retired at the end of last school year.
“Seventh Ward runs like a well-oiled machine,” Hebert said. “They have a very hard-working faculty. They know their routine and have been very helpful in sharing what works.
“You don’t want to come in and make changes for the sake of making changes.”
Hebert will also fall back on what she learned, in not only her 16 years in education, but her five years as an assistant principal at Dozier Elementary in Erath, under Karla Toups.
“I am going to take what I learned there,” Hebert said. “Based on the class sizes here, I will take what I learned at Dozier and modify and adjust to make it work for this school.”
One of the biggest adjustments for Hebert is that Seventh Ward does not have the position that helped groom her for her current job.
“Seventh Ward does not have an assistant principal,” Hebert said. “That is something I am used to being in place, so that is going to be an adjustment.”
Not a major one, though.
“It’s a smaller school and schools are granted assistant principals based on size,” Hebert said of Seventh Ward, which has 270 student in Pre-K to fifth grade. “I don’t think Seventh Ward has ever had one, so it is not like I am being presented a new challenge.
“It’s not an impossible thing to overcome.”
Again, Hebert said she knows the teamwork of the faculty and staff will help overcome any challenges that are present this year.
Hebert did not waste time meeting those who make up that faculty and staff. She organized a meeting shortly after being named principal earlier this summer.
“I called them in for Coffee and Conversation, as I called it,” Hebert said.
While coffee is great, the second part of that served as the most important part of the gathering.
“I wanted to let them know that I need their help because there is no way that I can do it on my own,” Hebert said. “I wanted to just open the lines of communication and have that dialog so that the school year could start smoothly.”
That has been the case.
“We are off to a good start,” Hebert said happily.
Much of that happiness comes from simply having Vermilion Parish Superintendent Jerome Puyau and the school board provide the opportunity to be principal at Seventh Ward.
“I am so appreciative of the confidence they have in my abilities to do this,” Hebert said. “Their support has been overwhelming and I have put a lot of pressure on myself because I want to do the best job possible.
“I don’t want to let them, or my teachers, down.”
Again, it is working closely with those teachers that will allow Hebert to continue the Seventh Ward tradition. “We have to lean on each other and communicate so that we remain an ‘A’ school,” Hebert said.