Shadowing a Principal

Felicitas y Gonzalo Mendez High School was opened in 2009 as a 4-schools-in-one campus where Mauro Bautista was brought on as an Assistant Principal.  In 2011 he assumed the role of Principal for Mendez and has continued to lead the school since.  

During my discussions with Mauro, I was surprised at how willing he is to disrupt systems to build student equity.  He indicated that the students matter most and his actions show he is willing to keep trying to adjust the system to meet their needs.  For example, he disrupted the English Learner reclassification process in Los Angeles Unified School District because the initial process of just passing the standardized assessment wasn’t equitable, especially for students who had been assigned to the English Language classification for over 6 years.  His ability to build networks of support for his students is a testament to his leadership style.  He worked with many different people in multiple schools to analyze the inequities and identify opportunities for change.

Mauro also used the example deciding not to participate in LAUSD’s random searches program on campus and how that led to the district sunsetting the entire program of random searches of students on secondary campuses.  This was a decision that was a result of stakeholder input and discussion.  He used his communities of practice to analyze if this program would work at his school and the stakeholders determined that it would be bad for the students.  He also coordinated with other principals to make this a joint decision because there is strength in solidarity.  This shows me that being a leader is a collaborative process and leaders need to be inclusive of community members and school stakeholders.

As I work to learn and grow, I hope to gain a deeper understanding of how the various systems at school and district levels work together and the potential for conflict between those systems.  How do leaders navigate the seemingly overwhelming conflicting departments and internal agendas?  I hope to be able to become a leader that can think big, but also work locally and focus on the needs of school and community stakeholders.

This experience taught me that leaders can be innovative, even in systems that are very slow to change.  By using networking, innovation and collaboration with stakeholders, leaders have the ability to create impactful changes.

second part of shadowing a principal

I also shadowed Elementary School Principal Marisa Gordon of 99th Elementary School.