When I first met him a dozen years ago, Mike Durso struck me as an okay principal. He didn’t say much about himself, but his school, Springbrook High in Silver Spring, was well-run. The students liked him. He had been around a long time, another good sign.
It took some time to realize how badly he had deceived me. His adopted persona, good ol’ boy administrator, hid something more important. I began looking for clues to how amazing Durso was, what an impact he was having on the region with his phenomenal eye for talent, while he pretended to be like everybody else, just getting through the day.