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What surprised me the most after conducting an interview with Mr. Ramirez is the level of supervision and management incumbent on school with a sole administrator. Again and again during the interview, Mr. Ramirez stressed the art of time management to get everything done in a day. Even when a person possesses such skill, it would still be insufficient to complete all the required work if they don’t devote an inordinate amount of time every day. In his case, Mr. Ramirez confessed waking up early and ending the day late to complete everything he has to do. He attributed this high demand of his time to not only the numerous supervisory tasks, it is also due to the fact that he is the only administrator on campus. He contrasted his experience with those in secondary school settings where it is typical to have multiple administrators sharing the supervisory responsibility. This interview experience challenged my perception about the importance of what seemingly simple tasks principles have to do. For example, Mr. Ramirez recalled his daily routine tasks include visiting all classrooms briefly, responding to emails, opening the school, preparing programs, etc. Even though these tasks seem perfunctory and insignificant, together they contribute to establishing the high expectation for all school members. Mr. Ramirez made it a point to do these tasks himself to make his presence known and to hold staff accountable for their work. As a result, they also consume most of the time out of his day. For this reason, Mr. Ramirez has learned to be strategic with the limited amount of time he has in order to get all the work done.
It was evident that principal Ramirez had a clear vision for his school. He articulated that the purpose of the school is “a bridge to students’ future.” This was his answer to the reflective questions of “who are we as a school” and “why are we here.” This vision is shared with the staff because they seem to have created a culture of success that is built in instruction that validates student’s socio-cultural backgrounds. Among other things, he boasted the school’s practice of using Jewish literature in instruction and dedicating part of the school bulletin to celebrate cultural heritages.
One of the CAPEs that was very evident in the interview with Mr. Ramirez is CAPE 4: Family and Community Engagement. This was one of the important foci of Mr. Ramirez’s leadership. He explained that family and community engagement is especially important in an ethnically and culturally diverse area. Around his school, there is a plurality of Latinos mixed with pockets of other ethnic groups such as Jews, Russians, and African-Americans. To make sure these ethnic communities are connected to the school, he budgeted a full time Community Representative position to reach out and be involved in the community at large. He attributed the school success to the impact that the Community Rep created in the surrounding community. In fact, his “Esther -- the Community Rep--is more widely known in the community than he. Another CAPE that principal Ramirez made stood out is CAPE 1: Developing and Implementing a shared vision.
CAPES
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