Towards the end of March, I sent Jerry Almendarez, the recently appointed superintendent of Santa Ana Unified and my most recent boss, a text.  Basically, in less than three months on the job, he had already had to address a nearly 50 million dollar projected budget deficit, inherited some contentious charter litigation, and now was facing the COVID-19 pandemic and historic physical closure of schools (as close a scenario to a zombie apocalypse as I could imagine).   My text was basically a thank you for stepping up to what might be the leadership challenge of a lifetime.

While my time with Jerry was short, just under 6 months, his impact on my leadership development has been formative.  I try to live life with as few regrets as possible, but I have to admit that I am genuinely sad that I didn’t have a little more time to work with and learn from Jerry.  Here is my attempt to capture just a few of the most important lessons Jerry has taught me during our time working together.

Personal & Authentic

Yes, it’s the title of a book by author Tom Murray that Jerry invited us all recently to read together.  It also reflects Jerry’s desire for all of the employees in SAUSD to invest time and energy into developing caring relationships with the students and families we serve.  It’s a reminder that education is much more than just academic skills – it is about supporting our children across all aspects of their development.  It is a reminder that each student has a story, and that it is incumbent upon us as educators to learn those stories, validate them, and build on them in meaningful, personalized ways.

Jerry’s invitation to be more personal and authentic in our work as educators resonates even more deeply as he is a superintendent who strives to model personal connection in his own leadership practices.   Whether he is making time to attend senior exit interviews, joining school site staff meetings to say hello, sending an unexpected text of encouragement, or personally hosting a book club with teachers & classified staff, Jerry prioritizes time to connect and build relationships.

Lead Learner

Jerry is a leader who is open about what he doesn’t know and his need to keep learning.  Education administrators are notorious for their desire to always have the right answers and perfect solutions.  “Expertise” is the sometimes damaging currency of education leadership.  Admitting you don’t yet have the immediate answer or that you will have to rely on others to help develop a strong solution is often the first step in drawing more out of your team.  Instead of taking it all on your shoulders as the leader, you distribute responsibility and ownership of the problem by being honest about where you will need help.  Indeed, at the heart of the learning organization is a recognition that you are being asked to do things that you don’t yet have the capacity or skill to do.

As the “lead learner” Jerry is fearless in calling on members of the organization to step up their efforts to learn and grow.   He models what it means to collaborate with and rely on one another to address complex challenges.  I have been in many management team meetings where Jerry or other team members have identified a gap in our current operations or knowledge set, only to be immediately followed by a collective invitation to build capacity in that area.  Jerry embraces his need to learn and address gaps in his own leadership practice, just as he expects everyone in the organization to do the same.  Even before COVID-19 hit, virtually every conversation or cabinet meeting with Jerry included a reminder that what matters most is investing in the development and improvement of each member of the SAUSD team.

Centeredness

Back when I worked for Envision Education, we did some work with the McKinsey consulting group on leadership development.  They introduced the idea of “centeredness” as the most foundational of leadership skills.  Essentially, “centered leadership” was the term they used to describe a leader who is secure in his or her abilities, focused on the things that matter most, unruffled by the inevitable but temporary ups and downs of daily leadership and crisis management, and aware that life is more than just our professional work and identity.

Jerry strikes me as falling in this category.  His years of experience in demanding leadership positions have tempered and weathered him well to address challenges without taking setbacks or disagreements personally.  His isn’t reactionary, and he finds opportunities for personal connection and humor in the midst of crisis.  He knows when he needs to engage more intensely, but is willing to let us know when a personal matter requires his more immediate attention.

Centeredness is about realizing that in any situation, we have choices to make as the leader.  As opposed to being a victim, the centered leader chooses to chart a deliberate path forward.  When a centered leader makes mistakes, they don’t try to hide it.  For example, when someone pointed out to Jerry in a meeting that his demeanor in a recent board meeting had seemed flat, instead of being defensive or dismissive about the observation, Jerry acknowledged and then laughed about it.  Turns out it really had been a long day and he and the Board had worked through a lot of challenging issues together.  That’s what leaders do.  Jerry was secure enough in his leadership not to get stuck because he had a down moment.

My recently promoted boss, Dr. Alfonso Jimenez, often joked with me about the stories I was waiting to publish on my blog after I left the district.  While I certainly have some good stories (and, admittedly, a few scars), SAUSD has been very good to me.  I have nothing but respect for those who have given a portion of their lives to the education of our children – from the governing board all the way to the classified staff whose daily work and sacrifices often go unheralded.  Educating nearly 50,000 young people, feeding families, keeping campuses safe, providing critical services and supports, and in the case of Santa Ana, being the top employer in the city, requires a tremendous amount of skilled management and inspired leadership.  It’s been an honor to be a part of that work and part of the SAUSD team.    

5 years ago, we crammed everything we owned into a U-haul truck, and drove out of San Francisco.  We rolled into Orange County, staying in a hotel room for a couple of weeks, while the U-haul and all our belongings sat in the parking lot.  I started my new job as the Executive Director of School Renewal for SAUSD, charged to help reinvent and reinvigorate our portfolio of school choices for students and families, and to encourage and develop a more flexible and innovative culture amongst our team.  I started my blog that week.  I created a Twitter account.  I took our oldest son Micah to urgent care when the intrepid 5 year old tried doing a front flip into the hotel pool and hit his head on the deck.  Lynzie and I sat exhausted at the end of each day, tip-toeing around the dual pack-n-plays set up in the hotel room that held our not even 1-year old twins.

As days turned into weeks and months, our transient life started to settle into much needed routines.  We moved into our house on Towner street.  Our oldest two kids began kinder and 1^st grade in the dual immersion program at King Elementary, which sits in the heart of Santa Ana near the intersection at Bristol and McFadden.  My goal was to visit every school in the first semester, and I soon found myself riding my bike through the streets of the city, getting familiar with the homes, alleyways, small businesses and cornerstores, and the schools that all help define the city.  Every day, at school beginning and school end, the streets and sidewalks would bulge with humanity as students and parents (mostly moms) would make the daily trek to and from school.  I connected with some of the most innovative thinkers and boundary pushers in the district, and explored as many santanero owned restaurants, community organizations, and local businesses as I possibly could.

Within 6 months, I felt I was in the thick of things.  We were supporting some bold program and school design initiatives – from our XQ super school design team to an Arts Conservatory to a new IB program to a fledgling district dependent charter school.  We held massive student LCAP sessions at every high school, welcoming 300 students at each site into the gym for a morning of some of the most student-centered dialogue that I had seen happen between school leaders and students.  We were redesigning teacher evaluation, encouraging technology integration and access, and encouraging the system to embrace the need to learn deeply.  When I wasn’t working, I was enjoying life at home with our family.  We explored Santa Ana and Orange County at every opportunity.  At church, I had been asked to teach early morning seminary, and spent every morning at 5:45 am with 20 sophomores learning about the Old Testament.  While never an easy assignment, early morning seminary provided me the opportunity to teach every day – something I still deeply love to do.

I can honestly say that those first years in SAUSD were some of my most rewarding professionally, in the sense that I was able to draw on what I considered to be my professional strengths – community-building, school redesign, personalized learning, & team development.   I was given the space to pursue creative solutions to the very real challenges of declining enrollment, stalled academic growth, and aging instructional practices and infrastructure.  I finished my doctorate at Berkeley and we welcomed our 5^th child to our home.

The second half of my time at SAUSD was equally rewarding, albeit more challenging.  From the day I was appointed to the executive cabinet as the Assistant Superintendent of Teaching & Learning, the volume of work for which I was responsible multiplied at a breathtaking pace.  I often told people that I had two jobs.  During the day, I was a district leader trying to visit schools, build team capacity, coordinate ongoing work, move forward strategic initiatives, and generally try to inspire ever increasing commitment to the success of our students.  At night, I became a legal consultant, reviewing contracts, preparing board items, updating policy and administrative regulations, approving (and sometimes denying) purchase orders and contract requests,  and answering the countless, never-ending, soul crushing mass of emails.  My days began before the sun went up and ended long after the sun had gone down.

They say that fire is a great refiner, and that has been my experience as a member of executive cabinet.  Every action, every plan, and every communication has been open to critique.  Sometimes it has felt as if nothing moves fast enough, and yet everything moves too quickly.  These challenges are just the price of admission – to say nothing of the leadership required to transform practices, systems, attitudes, and outcomes.

Despite the challenges – or more accurately, because of them – I feel like my time as the Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning has been a great teacher.  I like to tell people know that I didn’t really understand how the world worked until I joined the SAUSD cabinet.  I learned how the push and pull of different constituency groups, authority figures, and fellow institutions and organizations shape what we call society.  I learned about budgets and liability and lawsuits and jurisdictions and development in a contextualized way you simply cannot understand without experiencing them.  I gained a new perspective.

For all I gained and all the learning, I also worked every day in hopes of making a transformational difference.  I wanted, above everything else, for our schools to move closer to being real positive game-changers for every student.  I wanted schools our students and families would openly acknowledge as having changed the trajectory of their lives for the better.  I’m very proud of the work we moved forward – but am also aware that there is still so much to do.   The past few years have seen the redesign of both teacher and site leader evaluation systems, the adoption and implementation of new ELA and Math curriculum (with Social Studies happening right now), the creation of a new goal-setting and accountability system, new dual immersion programs, the launch of an XQ super school, the implementation of a long-awaited professional development tracking system, the bolstering of preschool seats and early education, and many other initiatives and redesign tasks.  On the home front, we welcomed our 6^th (and final) child into the family.  Our oldest kids finished 5 years at King Elementary (thank you to the amazing staff for the incredible time together).   Now we are about to embark on a family adventure and professional opportunity that has been more than a decade in planning.

While I believed it long before I came to SAUSD, my time here has only reinforced and deepened my belief that what really matters in any organization are the people.  Bring together and build the capacity of hard-working, talented people, and you can change the world.  I have taken even greater interest in the great humans of our time and our past history, as I have an even deeper appreciation for just how hard it is to truly lead with vision, to truly challenge the status quo, and to truly transform outcomes.  I have met many of those types of humans in my life, and many of them work and live right here in Santa Ana.  Thank you for letting me be a part of that work.

If ever there were a concept that we cite regularly as educators, that we generally get wrong, “critical thinking” would certainly be a strong contender (“growth mindset” would be a strong runner up, but that’s a different blog post).  In fact, we espouse the virtues of “critical thinking” in a way that it has become synonymous with the idea of academic rigor – a general sense that students are thinking hard.  Yet critical thinking is much more than a strong workout for the brain, although it certainly is that too.  At the most superficial level, critical thinking involves the systematic analysis of evidence to form a position or judgement.  Most definitions push even further, suggesting that critical thinking should both explore bias and even adopt a skeptical perspective of any conclusions.  While we certainly like the “thinking” part of the definition, not all educators are comfortable with the “critical” part.  Openly skeptical students who consistently challenge our assumptions and perspectives are not always the most appreciated.

One of my dad’s favorite education stories to tell is about when, as a high school student, his favorite course textbook was called “viewpoints.”  I have never done historical research to get a clear sense of what this book was all about, but as my dad tells it, it was simply a book that emphasized how every perspective has a counter-perspective that deserves exploration.  As you might have guessed, the book caused enough controversy to get pulled from the curriculum.  The question of what perspectives should be taught in our schools has long been debated.

Two of the most potent curricular approaches to really encouraging critical thinking, in my opinion, are the International Baccalaureate program and Ethnic Studies.  In the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, all diploma candidates are required to take a course known as “Theory of Knowledge.”  Basically, it’s a course that helps students explore the question of “how do you know what you know?”  For many students, this is an uncomfortable line of reasoning, as they have never stepped outside of their own experience and perspective to reflect on  the development of their own worldview.  To some parents and communities, this can be perceived as dangerous, as it encourages young people to openly analyze their set of core beliefs and perspectives.  The “International” part is also sometimes called into question.  Many stateside students learn their ethics, history, and values within a national context and culture that does not always acknowledge the big world we live in with its countless perspectives and counter-perspectives.  While I believe this type of intellectual work can actually strengthen our commitment to key concepts like liberty and equity, it isn’t universally embraced.  Students who can articulate how they have come to believe and think as they do, and contrast it with alternative perspectives, strike me as much better prepared for success in our world of ideas.

I am also a big advocate of Ethnic Studies programs, which are also not without controversy.  Recently, our Board of Education passed a resolution that will ultimately result in Ethnic Studies becoming a graduation requirement for students in the Santa Ana Unified School District.  Over the past several years, our Teaching and Learning team has developed a scope and sequence curriculum and has offered Ethnic Studies courses in several of our secondary schools.  At the heart of Ethnic Studies is the analysis of how different ethnic and racial groups in the United States have struggled and worked together in pursuit of ideals such as justice, equality, liberty, and equal protection under the law.  It engages students in discussions about the ongoing balance between governance, authority, freedom, and collective action.  Ethnic Studies reminds students that societies and governments are deeply human things that reflect the collective and individual decisions of key actors and constituencies over time.  In other words, the civil society and rule of law that defines our American identity has been rife with conflict and competing interests, and that generally the voice of minority and marginalized communities in that process has been exactly that – marginalized.

Whether the course is IB Theory of Knowledge, Ethnic Studies, or even a U.S. History course, there is always a concern, on both sides of the political spectrum, that individual teachers will abuse their position of authority with young people, and push a personal political agenda.  Furthermore, it is perhaps naive to think that curriculum development isn’t always a political act, and that what is considered “acceptable” for the classroom is always being negotiated through broader public opinion and its related democratic processes.  Even so, the risk of not engaging students in true critical thinking is much more threatening to our democracy and education system than rogue teachers or errant curriculum committees.

Again, this critical analysis of our perspectives, values, and history is in essence part of what it means to participate in a democratic system.  It seems not only appropriate, but essential for our young people to learn how to do engage in that system.   If our real goal is developing the critical thinking of our students, then we need to trust them, and our teachers, to engage in critical thought and analysis.

I’m white, and grew up in suburban Mesa, Arizona.  A few years ago, I read an article in Forbes magazine that named Mesa the most conservative city in the United States.  At the time I read the article, I was the principal at an arts-focused high school in the city of San Francisco, the city which that same Forbes article declared as the most liberal U.S. city in the country.  Certainly, the distance between these two places in my life was much further than the 769 miles indicated on Google Maps.  As a child, I had attended schools whose students were predominately white, and almost all of my closest friends had been white as well.  As an adult educator and administrator, I found myself leading a school where nearly 100% of students were either African American or Hispanic.   

By the time I graduated from high school, I still did not have much of an equity discourse or an awareness of the racial disparities that exist in our country.  Of course I had taken classes at school that touched on matters of race, poverty, inequality, and discrimination.  Yet these issues primarily existed for me in a historical, academic space, very distant from my day to day interests and interactions.  I simply didn’t have the life experience to put things in their proper context.

When I turned 19, I left Arizona for South America on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  For the next two years of my life, I lived amongst the Spanish speaking citizenry of one of the poorest regions of Argentina.  The initial drive from the small regional airport to my apartment in the northeastern province of Chaco made it clear that I was about to confront an entirely different world.  As I struggled to learn Spanish and adjust to new foods and customs, an even deeper struggle was happening internally, where I was trying to make sense of the poverty that surrounded me on every side.  It was unlike anything I had seen or experienced in my life.  I quickly began to realize that the world was much, much bigger than Mesa, Arizona, and that the world was filled with a diversity of people and perspectives that I would no longer be able to ignore.  It was such a humbling experience for me, in fact, that I found myself asking a lot more questions and listening more intently to the ideas and experiences of others.  I fell in love with a country, a language, and a people that were not my own.

When I returned home, I attended Arizona State University and changed majors to secondary education and Spanish.  One of my first classes was a course called “Culture & Schooling,” perhaps my first real dive into the racial implications of public schooling in our country.  In one of the first lectures to our class, the professor asked students about whether they had personally experienced discrimination.  The first student to raise her hand told a story about how her trips to the grocery store typically involved being followed by a store employee who watched her shop, assuming that the brown color of her skin made her more likely to shoplift.  To be honest, I was a little confused as I had never had an experience like this myself.  Perhaps the professor sensed the incredulity of some members of our class, so he asked more broadly.  “How many of you are typically followed by a store employee when you go grocery shopping?”  Dozens more hands went up.  Again, I listened and learned, recognizing that my own background and perspectives represented a small fraction of the lived experience of those around me.

I have had countless moments like these over the past 20 years, too many to name, when my own ignorance or lack of personal experience has been enlightened by the courageous sharing and advocacy on the part of colleagues of color.  I am deeply indebted to these colleagues, from Mr. Love in Boston to Dr. D in San Francisco, to many others in the places I have lived and worked, for their lessons in leadership and solidarity with communities of color that inform my actions every single day.  I fully recognize how my position of privilege allows this tutoring to occur in the relative safety of a classroom or a private conversation.  But, at the very least – and it really isn’t much to ask – it started by being willing to listen.  I’ve had to shut up long enough to seriously consider the perspectives and experiences of those with very personal knowledge about racism and discrimination – a knowledge which has come to them at a very high cost indeed.

Throughout my life I have been a practicing member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  One of the distinguishing features of our church services is a monthly worship service we refer to as a “testimony meeting.”  These are meetings set aside for members of the congregation to come to the pulpit to publicly witness of their spiritual convictions and experiences.  “Bearing testimony” is common language amongst church members, referring to this simple yet deeply personal practice of sharing what is in our hearts.  Bearing testimony requires a willingness to be vulnerable with others.  In essence, it is an act of putting ourselves and our experiences “out there” for broader consideration.  We can only hope that those who hear us will be thoughtful and respectful in their reactions to what we have to say.

How long will it take for white America to listen when our black and brown brothers and sisters bear testimony of their lived experiences?  How many “driving while black” or “jogging while black” or “trying to open the front door to my own home while black” stories have to be told before we will listen.  Even more importantly, how many more of these stories must be told in order for us to change our belief systems or demand change in our society?  Admittedly, my own values in this regard have been changed and shaped over many years, and I am still far from the warrior for equity that I know I must be.  Yet imperfect though I may be, I can say without question that any progress in my journey has been dependent upon my willingness to listen when someone is bearing testimony to the impact of racism in his or her life.  When those stories come, don’t block out the message, and don’t turn away.  Turn to listen and let the power of their testimony stay with you.

I’ve come to recognize what is about to happen when I get a text that says something like “I need to connect with you all immediately following this meeting.”  Usually, it involves an announcement or situation that is likely to have a significant impact on the work.  I got one of those last week, when our Deputy Superintendent of Education Services, and my current boss, Alfonso Jimenez, called us together for a quick meeting.  After nearly 4 years of working together, Dr. Jimenez informed us he was offered the position as superintendent of Hacienda La Puente Unified School District.

Obviously, I’m excited for Dr. Jimenez, and since I’m in the process of transition myself, I couldn’t hold too serious a grudge for his decision to leave Santa Ana Unified.  As has become something of a tradition for me, I wanted to take a few moments to reflect on the ways in which Alfonso has influenced my own leadership and impacted the work of Santa Ana during his time with the district.

Emotional Intelligence

Alfonso is incredibly stable and centered.  Yes, I’ve seen him get animated on occasion, but it is never about him or how he has been treated.  It is always about the work and the quality of our commitment and service to students and families.  When the heat gets turned up, Alfonso stays calm and focused, and he never takes things personally.  In the context of a large urban school district, this leadership attribute is absolutely essential.  With major constituency groups all weighing in and pressing on decisions around resource allocation and provision of services, being able to calmly hear and consider multiple perspectives is a critical skill.   

Alfonso also doesn’t play favorites.  While he is very personable and enjoys strong relationships, he doesn’t play people off of one another.  For example, as Deputy Superintendent he supervises myself and my two Assistant Superintendent colleagues. We are an intensely passionate and opinionated trio as we strive to move the work forward, and Alfonso has managed to build relationships of trust with each of us and as a collective team.  Key to that work is an ability to keep confidences.  Even amongst his closest colleagues, Alfonso will let you know when he isn’t at liberty to discuss or share.  It takes an incredible amount of emotional intelligence to stay centered under such demanding circumstances.

Attention to Detail

Dr. Jimenez has a very keen eye for the details.  Whether he is reviewing a project plan, grant  submission, vendor contract, or update to members of the Governing Board, Alfonso does not miss anything.  We’re used to Alfonso pulling out his black notebook to review to-do items and follow up on anything that might have been missed.  On occasion, I will get a late-night email asking about the status of an item that he mentioned in passing the day or week previous.  For as much as I pride myself on being thorough and double-checking my work, Alfonso has saved me on a number of occasions when he caught a detail that would have made my life more problematic.  I’m constantly amazed at how closely he reads and reviews everything – I think that’s why the email reminders are coming late at night!

What is amazing about Alfonso’s attention to detail is that he never seems to micromanage.  I find his reminders and feedback incredibly helpful in elevating my own work and sense of follow-through.  He is able to empower my work while simultaneously holding me to high expectations for being thorough and complete.  He delivers his critical feedback in a straight-forward and non-judgmental manner.

Deeply Engaged

Alfonso has lived and breathed Santa Ana Unified during his time here.  He puts in long, demanding hours – and not necessarily because it is his preference but because the nature of the work often demands it.  He does this without complaint or drawing attention to himself.  He just consistently and patiently does what needs to be done.

This quality of personal engagement is particularly heightened in crisis situations, where Dr. Jimenez is absolutely solid.  He understands the need to both address the situation at hand but also attend to the simultaneous public relations and communications needs of the community.   It is no surprise to me that the board in Hacienda La Puente came to recognize that Alfonso has a wide range of experiences addressing challenging situations, of which he has personal and first-hand experience managing.  Of course he knows how to delegate – the volume of work that moves through his office can be staggering – but he also knows when not to delegate, and when the work needs his personal attention.