Q: What new or different things are you bringing to the upper school? What is your vision/plan for the future?
A: Our Upper School is thriving and so many great things are already happening here. We are always looking at ways to deepen and expand our programs for our students, and seek more student feedback on what’s working well and what we could improve. As we look ahead together, student voice will be a guiding force behind ongoing improvements and iterations to our Upper School.
Q: What things do you want to highlight that work well at this school?
A: So many! I think our core value of community is such a bedrock for Laguna’s Upper School. Students create truly meaningful connections with one another and with their teachers. At the heart of it, our faculty prioritize making Laguna a caring, engaging, and joyful place for our students. And I am just so amazed by our students. You each combine scholarship, balance, and character into your unique paths at Laguna. Our students are performing in plays, researching in labs, leading on the athletic fields, and engaging with the larger community in impactful and dynamic ways. The lifelong skills of self-advocacy, critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, leadership, and resilience are anchors to everything we do together at Laguna.
Q: Have you gained new insights about the school through this new position?
A: It’s my 9th year at Laguna, and each new experience here has just deepened my love and care for our phenomenal community. In terms of this particular position, I am enjoying the closer partnership I have with our College Counseling and our Athletics Departments. Great work is happening in both of those departments, and it’s exciting to collaborate more closely with those teams as Head of Upper School.
Q What is the thing that you are missing most about teaching?
A: What I miss most about teaching, I try to still cultivate within my work as a division head. As a teacher, I absolutely loved connecting with students, building a classroom community, and then doing meaningful, challenging, and transformational work together. My students were often my very best teachers. I find that as Head of Upper School, I get to be a part of that same great stuff, just on a larger, division-wide scale.
Q: How do you want to engage with the student body as the new head of upper school?
A: I’m loving the lunches I’m having with all of our US students in small groups. It’s been great just getting a chance to hang out a bit and hear how the year is going. The more I can listen and learn, the more I can work to make this place the very best it can be for all of our students. Being in our students’ classrooms and cheering them on at athletic games and shows are the absolute highlights of my days at work. My office is always open, and I have candy…so swing by and chat whenever.
Q: What are some differences you are experiencing and expecting from being head of the high school rather than the lower school head?
A: It’s similar work in many ways, but quite different in others. I’m overseeing the faculty, students, and program of a division, and partnering with our families to support a positive and meaningful experience for all. A division head, in that way, is very much the steward of the School’s mission and people, and that is the same at any divisional level. That being said, my entire career has been focused on working with teenagers in secondary schools, and my other seven years at Laguna have all been here at Hope Ranch campus. In that way, this role does feel like a return “home” for me. I am grateful to have gained experience across all three divisions, because I’m always thinking about how we can connect our EK-12 students and learn from one another. Our Lower School students and faculty are amazing, and it’s so special to know that those students will eventually be in my division yet again – just a few years down the road when they are closer to my height as 9th graders. This fall, it’s been fabulous to be around the witty banter of high school students again. I missed y’all last year!
Q: Is there anything else you would like to add?
A: We are so lucky to work with the amazing students that we do. Please drop by anytime – my door’s always open. Come by and hang out anytime.
