The 2023-2024 school year at South Broward High School is off to a blazing start, with a brand new principal and brand new teachers. Alexander Francois, who spent the last 14 years at Miramar High School, was brought over to SBHS as the new principal over the summer. He replaced Mrs. Patricia Brown, who became the athletic director of Broward County Public Schools.
“Spending 14 years at Miramar, I was very familiar with the students and the staff and I was able to create a strong school community. That’s what I’m looking forward to most, transferring here to South Broward,” said Francois.
Observing the “the culture, the way kids and staff interact with each other, South Broward’s deep history,” and environment at South Broward has been very important for the new principal.
“They’re all very important for me to just sit back this first year and observe how everything works and kind of feel out the atmosphere to see where I fit in here,” said Francois.
He said the close knit relationships that the staff have at SBHS has helped immensely with his transition, including among administrators, such as the Senior Assistant Principal Timothy Windburn, and staff such as the office manager, Dawn Bettis.
“My administrators have guided me through getting settled in. They have been amazing and my lovely office manager Mrs. Bettis has helped with the little things that I didn’t quite know how to do yet. Most definitely my admins though, they have been so supportive and welcoming and I couldn’t be more grateful,” the principal said.
As part of Francois’ new start at South Broward, he wants to get the students and staff more involved in events happening here. Building a strong community and an involved community is something he is passionate about.
“Getting involved in clubs and sports is the best advice I could give students who are new and trying to fit in or even former students who maybe feel like they don’t have something here for them. There’s something here for everyone and if there isn’t we could always start it,” he said.
Francois wants to make an impact his first year as principal, but he doesn’t want to just dive head first into interacting with students.
“Well, with it being my first year, I just want to get to know the culture and the history of the school. I want to be able to improve whatever needs to be improved and implement new fun things and get the student body involved and make for a fun year,” Francois said.
