To label Badin a “college prep school” is a vast understatement. Badin’s mission is to prepare students for college and the world to come, and it does not shrink from this academic pursuit.
This is a special place. The faculty helps make it that way, working so diligently with our students. Every teacher deeply cares about each and every student. Every teacher comes to know all the students and tracks them from day one. Most teachers can tell you where and how successful in life each graduate has become.
Students at Badin High School remain friends for a lifetime. There are no cliques at Badin singling out athletes, or musicians, or academicians. The word used at Badin to describe the combination of students, teachers, administrators, parents and community is “family.”
When you attend Badin, you are part of the Badin family, and you are a family member for life. The Badin family supports its members for a lifetime. This has been evidenced more than once during my 12-year tenure at Badin. When a family member experiences tragedy and loss, the rest of the family steps up and helps.
That’s just one of many reasons I have been so proud to be the principal at Badin. Our students excel in all areas — faith development, academics, athletics and service to the community, as well as extracurricular activities. They care about each other and the community around them. They make a difference each and every day.
Badin High School is fortunate to be located on the west side of the Great Miami River on New London Road. The area is serene, beautiful, lush and very suburban. People are sometimes surprised, upon visiting Badin, with how beautiful the area is.
Personally, I have had the opportunity to meet and work with so many outstanding and wonderful people in Hamilton. The people of Hamilton know and appreciate the importance of Badin High School. From the mayor to City Council, to the fire department and police, all have stepped up to help Badin whenever necessary. City government, public works, fire and police forces are peppered with Badin graduates. Two current City Council members and one former city manager currently serve on Badin’s education commission.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the wonderful relationship that Badin has had with the Hamilton City School District. We have been able to act together as partners in education rather than as adversaries.
On a personal level, the people of Hamilton, Fairfield, Ross, West Chester Twp. and Oxford have been extremely welcoming to me as the principal of Badin. They have treated me with respect and have afforded me the opportunity to participate in many community functions. I have developed a special fondness for the people in the Hamilton Rotary Club. I have been welcomed as a member for the last eight years. The people in Rotary are a microcosm of all that is right about the city of Hamilton. I have loved being a part of that group during my tenure.
In general, after I retire, I will miss the Badin students terribly. My interest in them far exceeds the four walls of the school. I have enjoyed immensely following the success of these wonderful kids from afar, even after they leave Badin. I will also miss the everyday collaboration with the faculty and staff. The parents of the students have been so supportive over the years. For this I am grateful, and I will miss them as well.
I will not, however, miss arising at 5:30 a.m. each and every school day and trying to be in my spot at 7 a.m.
Coming to Badin after 34 years in public education has been like coming home. What a great way for a guy to top off his career in education. To be able to come to a school like Badin, with such a wonderful student body, faculty, parents and surrounding community, has been a blessing to me.
Frank Margello has spent the last eight years as the principal at Stephen T. Badin High School. He is retiring after 46 years in education. He lives in Fairfield.