Meet Sean Bowe, Dogwood Hill School Principal

Sean Bowe comes from a family of educators.

His grandfather was the superintendent of schools in Little Falls and his father was a teacher who then transitioned to the restaurant industry. 

“I was married young,” said Bowe, who grew up in Cedar Grove. “I have a son who just graduated college and is completing the paperwork to enter veterinary school. My younger son is a junior in high school.”

After graduating college, Bowe worked in the corporate world for 10 years, deciding eventually to turn to education as his calling.  His first job was in 2007 teaching third grade students in Oakland’s Dogwood Hill School.  During that time he obtained his Master’s degree and Principal’s Certification and, after three years in Dogwood and a stint in Ramsey’s schools, he received tenure.  He was appointed assistant principal in North Haledon and two years later became principal of a Riverdale public school.

“At that time Glen Clark was leaving Dogwood,” he said. “Opportunity knocked and I interviewed in Oakland.  I was excited by the possibility of returning as principal.  My first day of school in Dogwood, I knew I was home.  There was a positive culture here at Dogwood, a sense that it’s about the kids.  Everything done here was and is about the kids.”

Bowe’s first two-and-a-half years in Dogwood with his 240 students and 30 teachers flew by smoothly. Then everything changed as the pandemic upended the school’s consistent operation.

“The arrival of Covid-19 changed everything for us as educators,” he said. “We had to be more resilient, find ways of delivering education so the kids would not lose ground to assure education would continue. We had to re-create how we teach in a matter of weeks.”

Working with his staff of teachers, the school population was divided into Cohorts A and B.  Each cohort was held live and virtually on alternating days.  There were no guidelines for the plan, just shared ideas, collaboration and innovation.

“We had to develop new methods, find different solutions for small and large groups, use Google in wise ways, be completely dedicated to the kids on remote and assemble all information in support of a lesson,” he said.

The principal and teachers found ways to completely re-create how they teach in a matter of weeks and were able to make the children feel comfortable and stimulated so they could learn without interruption.   As each modification in the federal and state guidelines rolled out, it was the principal’s and staff’s job to implement and adjust.

“The kids were so resilient and great about conforming to this new environment, even the very young ones,” Bowe said.  “They uniformly adopted the mask all day.  Teachers and staff also showed great resilience.  Seeing the kids grow this past year…. to me, there is nothing like it. By the end of last year, the kids were all in the building and they were so excited.”

The 2021-2022 school year begins in a matter of days.  Bowe has been the liaison to the Bergen County Health Department since the pandemic began and continues to work diligently conveying changes in guidelines that need to be implemented.  The same coping mechanisms must be utilized, the same unity in performing the task of teaching the children.  Cases of the virus may continue to occur and so will the same monitoring and social distancing.  Importantly, there is a mandatory “no mask, no-entry policy” in place for the foreseeable future based on Governor Murphy’s Executive Order 251.

“As I begin my fifth year at Dogwood, I can say we have built good relationships between teachers and students,” Bowe said. “The connection is strong and there is a positive attitude going forward.  I am hoping for a healthy and normal school year.  We did everything we could to keep people safe.  In doing so, I can say that last year, for the first year in my life, I was not sick.” 

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