October is National Principals Month and the Portland Public Schools is taking this opportunity to shine a spotlight on our principals and also on our lead teachers at Reiche Elementary School, a teacher-led school. All of them are super. We celebrate and appreciate them not only this month but always! To showcase them, we have asked our principals and lead teachers to answer five questions about themselves and their leadership role. We also asked what superpower they'd like to have to aid in their jobs.
We're featuring each principal and lead teacher individually during this month. Read on to learn more about Super Lead Teacher Charlie Marenghi of Reiche Elementary School:

Reiche Elementary School (a teacher-led school)

Lead Teacher Charlie Marenghi

1) Tell us a little bit about yourself:

I moved to the U.S. from England in 1997 and ran a children's theatre company in California for a number of years before moving to getting my M.A. in education. I have lived in Maine and worked for PPS for 17 years.

2) What inspired you to become a lead teacher?

I work at Reiche, a teacher-led school in the heart of Portland. I've always gravitated towards leadership in different forms. I see myself as a service leader, helping teachers and students get what they need to do the best job at teaching and learning possible. It felt right to take the next step into formal leadership, and the encouragement of colleagues was instrumental in seeing myself in the role.

3) What do you feel most passionate/excited about in your job?

Teachers transform lives. Seeing excellent teachers and their impact on students makes this job exciting.

4) What's the most challenging part of being a principal?

I think it's a twofold challenge. One is the constant tension between needs and resources. The other is that the challenges we face as leaders are constantly changing every single day, but they require the same skill set: patience, flexibility and follow through.

5) If you could choose to have a superpower to help you in your job, what would it be?

To heal.