MAPLE STREET
A novel in development.
Claire Morrison arrives in Bracken City Schools ready to help. On her first day, the fire alarm is going off, two students are fighting in the parking lot, and absolutely no one is waiting for the leadership coach.
Maple Street follows retired superintendent-turned-leadership coach Claire Morrison and Denise Walker, principal of Franklin High. Claire brings decades of experience, good intentions, and a well-developed instinct for fixing things. Franklin High has a way of making that instinct less useful than she expects.
As Claire keeps returning to Bracken and works alongside Denise, she begins to suspect that Franklin does not need fixing and Denise certainly does not need saving.
Leadership coaching, it turns out, mostly involves listening while very capable principals describe the latest impossible thing they already handled without her.
WHERE IT IS NOW
Maple Street is still in development. The structure is taking shape, but I’m still figuring out exactly where Claire and Denise will take me.
I’ll update this page as the story becomes clearer.