Larry Gabbard

Larry started off our conversation by letting us know that he is excited for the future for the future of SPA. He is a unique alum in that, by his own description, he "never really left" the program.

Larry is the principal of an amazing school community, the Mather Building Arts and Craftsmanship High School in Manhattan. He founded his school with the National Parks Service six years ago. He describes his small school as a community that functions on distributive leadership, and sees his role as the facilitator of the many facets of what happens at school - discipline, operations, and instruction. He places great emphasis on creating opportunities for others to be leaders as well and grooming aspiring leaders as they grow, first as master teachers and then as leaders who produce other awesome teachers.

Larry reflects that SPA helped him to understand that for leaders, the concept of resources isn’t about finances, it's about how you utilize human resources in your building and community. SPA's value for him came (and still comes) from the diversity of people he works with, their synergy, and what he was able to put into action to improve student achievement. For him, the value of these experiences was worth much more than a degree or diploma and set SPA apart from all other education leadership programs.

Larry, who is still with us as a summer instructor, says that he continues to learn from each new cohort. His advice for current students: "Being a leader means that you will always keep learning regardless of the role you play today or tomorrow . . . Savor every moment on the continuum of your education, and continue working on mastery in teaching because your first few years after the SPA degree will give you a different perspective on both leadership and classroom teaching. And don't worry - as you move up the ladder, things will make much more sense!"