Whitman High School principal to step down for role in MCPS central office

Veteran educator leaves a legacy of tackling racism and intolerance

June 5, 2024 3:11 p.m.

Principal Robby Dodd will take the stage to celebrate a graduating class of Walt Whitman High School students for the final time Wednesday afternoon as he prepares to leave the Bethesda school after six years at the helm.

On May 23, Dodd was appointed by the Board of Education to be a director in Montgomery County Public Schools’ Office of School Support and Well-Being. He is set to begin the position effective July 1.

“The decision to leave Whitman was a really difficult one,” Dodd told MoCo360 Tuesday, describing his departure as bittersweet. “It has been the highlight of my 30-year career in MCPS to be principal of Whitman. I have truly enjoyed it.”

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Dodd said that despite the difficulty of closing this chapter at Whitman, “it seemed, for both personal and professional reasons, to be a good time to go.”

As a director in the Office of School Support and Well-Being, Dodd will be supervising, supporting and evaluating principals and ensuring that the schools they oversee “have a high caliber leader In the principalship,” he said. “I have always thought that It would be a great experience to work more closely supporting principals and schools.”

Dodd became just the fourth principal in Whitman’s 59-year history when he took over in 2018 after the retirement of Alan Goodwin, who led the school for 14 years. A Montgomery County native, Dodd has held a number of MCPS posts during his career, including serving as lead consulting principal in the district’s Office of Human Resources and Development. Prior posts included serving as principal at Strathmore Elementary School and then Argyle Middle School, both in Silver Spring, and serving as an assistant principal and acting principal at other MCPS schools.

Upon taking over at Whitman, which has long been regarded as one of the county’s highest-achieving high schools and was recently ranked the No. 2 high school in Maryland and No. 1 in the county, Dodd said one of his goals was to help the school’s minority students, particularly Black and Latino students, succeed.

His two biggest challenges during his tenure were grappling with issues of hate bias and intolerance at the majority-white student school and providing a high-quality education during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dodd said.

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According to MCPS data, Whitman’s student population of more than 2,000 students was more than 60% white in the 2022-2023 school year, the latest data available on the district’s website. More than 15% identified as Asian, 12% as Hispanic and more than 5% as Black. The demographics offer a sharp contrast to MCPS as a whole, in which white students make up about 24.4% of an enrollment of just over 160,000.

To address overt racism that many Black students had reported, Dodd worked with the school community to launch the OneWhitman initiative in 2019, which gave students a place to lead discussions on challenging topics such as race, equity, diversity and inclusion. At the time, Dodd was widely credited as the driving force behind Whitman’s efforts to address racism.

“I think our school environment has really become a place where students can have conversations about challenging topics that belong in high school and as such, our school community has grown stronger and healthier,” he said.

Dodd also noted the development of the school’s Leadership Academy of Social Justice over the last six years. The program allows students to learn about social justice-related topics and become active, socially responsible leaders committed to advancing social justice, according to the academy website. In the fall the academy will open up to students countywide who can apply to be selected to fill up to 30 spots at Whitman through a lottery-based system, according to Dodd. Those selected will attend the school full time.

“While this work always goes on and continues, I think that we have created a safer, more welcoming environment for all students–where students are safe and they can thrive,” he said.

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The creation of the OneWhitman initiative drew the interest of Gregory Miller, the school’s current principal intern. Miller, a Black educator, joined the school as an assistant principal in July 2020. Since the news of Dodd’s appointment, a group of four students penned a letter in support of Miller being selected for the principal role that was published in the school’s newspaper, The Black and White.

In the letter, students commended Dodd for being an “effective and caring administrator, showing dedication and passion not only to students and staff but also to the Whitman community as a whole.”

Junior Sara Corbett, who signed the letter, told MoCo360 that Dodd “has been a stable presence in the midst of a lot of difficult events that have taken place.”

“He’s been guiding us through difficult times and he’s been handling and fielding through a very diverse group of students and parents and ideologies,” Corbett said. She also noted that Dodd has also been helpful in reassuring parents and students during tough moments, such as when Whitman received a bomb threat in mid-May that caused the school to evacuate.

Recognizing a need for “continuity and consistent leadership,” the students endorsed Miller as the best choice for advancing the school’s mission and fostering an inclusive community.

Junior Addison Rosenberg, who also signed the letter, told MoCo360 Tuesday that Miller was an approachable administrator who was supportive of students.

Dodd said Miller is “one the finest school administrators that I’ve ever worked with.” However, he noted the district follows a strict process to select a new principal including gathering input from students, staff and the community.

Whitman’s PTSA President Katie Blot told MoCo360 Tuesday that Dodd has been a “superb” principal, noting that he attended the majority of the PTSA’s meetings. She said Dodd was very involved with parent organizations and in building relationships and interacting with students.

“When you go to Whitman–I’m in the front office and in Dr Dodd’s office and conference room and stuff a good bit on a weekly basis–there are always students knocking on Dr. Dodd’s door while he’s in a meeting, you know, wanting to share something, or advocate for something, or tell him something,” Blot said.

As Dodd approached his final Whitman graduation, he said he is “fairly emotional” about the ceremony that will be held at 2:30 p.m. at D.A.R. Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. He’ll miss the relationships he has built with students, staff and community members along the way, he said.

His message to the graduating seniors?

“In their lives if they can–which I think they can–wherever they are, whoever they meet, I always see it as our obligation to leave things better than we found them,” Dodd said. “That’s always been my mantra in the schools that I’ve worked at.”

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