Back to School: New Principal at Sycamore Valley
- August 25, 2010
For Amy Black, accepting the job as principal at Sycamore Valley Elementary School was like returning to the town where you grew up.
"Coming back to Danville is wonderful. It feels like I'm coming home," said Black from her new office on the Sycamore Valley campus on Holbrook Drive.
Black took over the reins of the school this summer, replacing Bob Scott who retired this spring after 18 years as Sycamore Valley's principal.
It's familiar territory. Black's first long-term job out of college was at John Baldwin Elementary, where she spent eight years as a second grade teacher and a reading specialist.
Black then worked in the San Ramon Valley school district's administration office. For the past two years, she was principal at Alamo Elementary School.
The 36-year-old educator said she wasn't thinking about transferring to another school. The vacancy simply cropped up and she liked the challenge.
"I wasn't looking for another job, but the opportunity presented itself," she said.
The new position does have its challenges.
Sycamore Valley Elementary is twice the size of Alamo Elementary. It has 700 students and 68 employees, 32 of whom are teachers. The average class size for kindergarten through third grade has increased this fall to 26 pupils while fourth and fifth grade classrooms will house 32 students each.
"At a smaller school, you can get involved in everything. At a larger school, you have to hit the ground running," she said.
Black plans to use what she learned the past two years to help her adjust to the new campus. She says the most important thing is to build relationships with students, parents and employees.
"Running a school is really all about knowing your population," she said.
Black also plans to be flexible, realizing that things happen at schools and what you have on the calendar isn't necessarily how that day will go.
"I knew that every day would be different as a principal," she said, "but I didn't fully understand that until I was in the job."
Black also realizes she is taking over a school with an established reputation that had the same principal for almost two decades.
"I'm very cognizant that Bob built a really amazing school," she said. "My intention is not to come in here and make a bunch of changes."
In particular, Black wants to continue the success in the school's reading-writing project as well as utilize the new technology Scott brought in. Every fifth-grader has a laptop at their disposal in class, a fact that requires Sycamore Valley to strictly enforce the district's cyber-bullying policies.
"These are 21st century students and you have to recognize that," she said. "They live in a world where things like cell phones, DVDs and iPhones are not new technology."
Black says she expects to receive a lot of support from her staff as well as parents. The employees, she says, are committed to the students and the parents are actively involved in the school.
Black says a principal's job requires a lot of juggling, but if you keep the students as your number one priority, you will succeed.
"The kids are the focal point of every decision I make," she said.
Black grew up in San Jose. She received her undergraduate degree from San Jose State University, her teaching credential at St. Mary's College and her master's degree in education leadership as well as her administration credential from 麻豆传媒社区入口.
She lives in Lafayette with her two sons, ages 7 and 4.
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