Davaun A. Barnett may be the new principal at Duquesne Elementary, but don't look for him in the principal's office after school starts Aug. 25.

Mr. Barnett intends to spend much of his time in the classrooms, helping teachers to improve their skills and implementing the new curriculum in reading, math and science that the teaching staff helped to write over the summer.

"My goal is to implement building-wide best practices and implement them in every classroom," said Mr. Barnett, who has been on the job in Duquesne since July 1. "I will be in the classrooms every single day I am in the school."

He comes from the Weil Accelerated Learning Academy in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, where he was assistant principal. During the 2007-08 school year, he served as acting principal of Weil while the school's principal was on sick leave.

Mr. Barnett, 37, holds a master's degree in policy management and educational leadership from Carnegie Mellon University and a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Duquesne University. His annual salary is $101,000.

Among his areas of expertise are scheduling, lesson design, staff management and professional development.

When he talks, he sounds part corporate executive, part educator and part mentor.

"This is going to be a process of growth with a hands-on, systematic approach," he said. "I'll be building the railroad tracks this year to get the train rolling down the track."

He will be assisted in his leadership efforts by former Weil colleague Sharon A. McIntosh. Ms. McIntosh served as acting assistant principal at Weil during the time that Mr. Barnett served as acting principal. Her salary will be $80,000.

The community is invited to meet Mr. Barnett and Ms. McIntosh at an ice cream social and orientation from 7 to 9 p.m. next Thursday.

Mr. Barnett said he's greatly impressed with the staff at Duquesne Elementary and the extra effort they've put in over the summer preparing for the school year.

"I'm talking about everyone from teachers to custodians to secretaries. They are all very hard working, and this will be a team effort in helping me to move things forward," Mr. Barnett said.

Mr. Barnett said he was recruited to the job by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, which is managing the Duquesne district via an agreement with the state Department of Education.

The attraction to the position, he said, is the opportunity to work in an urban school without the bureaucracy of a large public system. At Weil, his goals were similar to those at Duquesne -- to improve education for underachieving inner-city students and to do it by implementing the best practices in every classroom.

But, he said, he believes he'll be able to achieve results more quickly in Duquesne, where he will report directly to officials of the intermediate unit.

"Teaching in an urban setting is one of the noblest things you can do," he said. "This is about as close as you can get to working in the civil rights movement."

Mr. Barnett said he will be a significant presence to the students, greeting them as they arrive and leave each day, spending time in the cafeteria at breakfast and lunch, and sitting in on classes.

Students will see several changes this year.

Filling a new position called path coordinator, Eric Harper will be responsible for helping students in kindergarten through grade three make positive behavior choices and he will work on mediation among middle school students.

Mr. Barnett said the goal in creating the path coordinator's position is to reduce discipline problems at the elementary school and to prepare the students for the type of behavior that will be expected of them when they attend either East Allegheny or West Mifflin high schools.

Duquesne also has a new faculty handbook and discipline code and a uniform bell system. In past years, the lower and upper grades were on different schedules.

The grading scale also has changed to a 10-point scale, in which an A is 90 percent to 100 percent rather than 93 percent to 100 percent.

Also, sports will be added for the seventh- and eighth-grade students, with football and basketball for boys and basketball and volleyball for girls.

Mr. Barnett said he is exited about the coming year.

"It is almost like a calling for me to be here," he said. "I've had an overwhelming feeling of calm since I started here, and I know this is where I need to be at this point in my life."