My tour guide for the day and I stood alone in the open quad of Lakewood High School just before 9:00am on Monday morning. Nothing stirred and there was hardly a sound besides our conversation. Our words seemed to bounce around the many large buildings and echo back to us. It was a little chilly and leaves blew back and forth across the quad. Too quiet. Then the bell rang.
Out of every nook and cranny, students came pouring out by the thousands. From every classroom I could see and many more that I couldn’t see, they poured into the quad as if they were one collective liquid. I thought that the high school I attended was large at 3,200 students, but here were more than 4,300 packed into a smaller space. It made me pause to think about the sheer number of kids that go through the Long Beach Unified School District every year.
My tour guide and I walked through the quad, continuing our conversation, when she stopped to remark that I didn’t seem flustered by the crowd. Last year, she said, the visitors she was leading stuck to her like glue as they made their way through the students. “They were scared to death,” she said. “Why?” I asked. “They’re just kids.” As a participant in the District’s annual Principal For A Day program, I was more concerned with figuring out what one does, exactly, to collectively help more than 4,300 kids day after day.
My fellow principi and I were led around campus to experience a day leading 4,300+ students.
Principal For A Day was an eye-opening experience held this past Monday, with about 200 community members participating and receiving a first-hand account of what it’s like to run a school in the LBUSD. Though I was placed at Lakewood High, others spent their day at local middle schools or one of the many elementary schools. We were treated to a luncheon at Long Beach City College, followed by a discussion highlighted by speeches from LBUSD Superintendent Chris Steinhauser, LBCC President Eloy Oakley and CSULB President F. King Alexander. It was during this open discussion that my experience came full-circle.
I received only a small glimpse of the District in my short time at Lakewood, and though 4,300+ kids seems large, it’s nothing compared to the number of students in the entire district. The challenge is to direct every child in the city towards a high school diploma, and hopefully higher education. Earlier this year, the signing of the College Promise by the three education leaders named above took a giant step towards improving that process. The Promise is a strong commitment to begin funneling students into higher education by eventually offering a tuition-free semester to LBUSD students attending LBCC, as well as guaranteed admittance to CSULB for any LBUSD student who meets the minimum requirements.
LBCC President Eloy Oakley speaks to those who participated in Principal For A Day.
And suddenly, those 4,300 kids didn’t seem so daunting, or directionless. They seemed like a small group of something larger, a small group that is being steered toward success. The classrooms we visited were full of passionate students who welcomed us as strangers with smiles and greetings. The 10th grade AP English class discussed ideas that were well beyond my lessons at the same age. The American Sign Language class for the hard of hearing was full of energy and we left with hugs from everyone. The graduation prep class was full of real questions about requirements for college. “It takes all of these classes just to go to college?” one girl asked as she stared at the list of four-year credits needed. It does, but it’s much easier for you now than it was before.
LBCC President Oakley spoke passionately about the need to begin the steps towards higher education early, and to acknowledge the stepping-stone that LBCC provides to students that wish to move on to CSULB or other universities. CSULB President Alexander expressed his commitment to providing opportunities to local students who are willing to put in the effort.
“The Wood,” they like to call it.
Budget cuts have hit everyone hard. Lakewood once had more than 25 buses to bring student to school every day, and today have nine. Two assistant principals had to be let go, leaving the school with four. With every student placed into a track that is headed by a principal or assistant principal, that leaves every principal responsible for more than 720 students. If an incident occurs, processing the necessary files could take up most or all of a principal’s day. So size is a problem, as is funding. But even in the face of one of the largest school districts in the nation, there is plenty of individual attention and opportunity. The District wouldn’t have been a finalist for the 2008 Broad Prize For Urban Education if there wasn’t.
There is a long way to go, and I saw it on Principal For A Day. But we have the right people in place to identify and fix the problems, and send our students off prepared for their next adventure.
By Ryan ZumMallen, Managing Editor
Disclosure: lbpost.com co-founder Shaun Lumachi is a Principal For A Day co-chair.