Francis Hammond 1 Principal Resigns

Benjamin Costa, principal of Francis C. Hammond 1 Middle School in Alexandria, has resigned.

This school year was Costa’s first at Francis Hammond. In a letter to parents, Costa did not say why he was resigning other than to “pursue other educational leadership opportunities.”

Costa most recently served as the assistant principal of Westland Middle School in Bethesda, Md. He began his career as an English teacher in 1995 and has served the Montgomery County Public Schools division as a dean of students, an alternative education site coordinator and a student support-family counselor.

Blanche Maness, a veteran Alexandria City Public Schools administrator and former school board member, will serve out the year as acting principal. Costa shared the following letter with parents:

I want to share with you that I have decided to resign from ACPS to pursue other educational leadership opportunities. While my tenure here has been brief, it has allowed me to experience many facets of education that have helped me to grow in my conviction that teaching and learning are the most important endeavors a person can make toward building a positive impact on our community and this great nation.

While seeking to preserve the joy, satisfaction and honor of instilling the values of integrity, respect, responsibility, fairness, honesty, caring, and citizenship throughout the school, Hammond 1, has faced a variety of evolving opportunities and challenges. I have done my best to protect the ability of teachers to inspire students even as new metrics are established and instructional tools and strategies are implemented, by leading our school community to feel supported, guided, heard and validated, as they’ve taken reasonable risks while traversing the new pathways inherent in our rapidly changing dynamic world.

At Hammond 1, I have emphasized building trust in the importance of sharing common experiences and embracing our cultural and economic differences. This deliberate openness and access helps us enrich our ability to celebrate in the diversity of the world around us. Emphasis is placed on the importance of "framing lessons" by ensuring that mastery objectives tie into meaningful and relevant enduring understandings because we know this is critical to engaging students in real-world learning that can transfer into real-life endeavors.

Successful schools, like Hammond 1, find ways to integrate new educational research discoveries. So, as a school community of learners, our teachers studied Mindsets and our students studied Brainology, in an effort to ensure that none of us are caught in a static way of thinking. Hammond 1 has made every effort to create an environment in which each student and teacher feels supported and valued and academic optimism is celebrated. I am very proud of the learning happening at Hammond 1 and my sincere hope is that it continues to thrive and advance.

ACPS and the FCH 1 school community honored me with the opportunity to support them this year and we have made great strides toward ensuring that Hammond 1 is a quality school. I am grateful for the opportunity to play my part and for everything I have learned.

Thanks to each of you for your support and encouragement.

Superintendent Morton Sherman also shared a letter with parents, naming Maness as acting principal and praising her qualifications. As a school board member, Maness served as a liaison to Francis Hammond 1, Sherman noted.