Better Learning Podcast Episode 208: The Challenges and Rewards of Educational Leadership

In this episode of the Better Learning Podcast, host Kevin Stoller speaks with Dr. David Dumon, the superintendent of Altar Valley School District in Tucson, Arizona. Dr. Dumon shares his background, from his early school experiences and decision to go into education to his current role as a superintendent.

They discuss the challenges and rewards of educational leadership, the importance of striving for academic excellence while maintaining a supportive environment for students and staff, and the innovative approaches Dr. Dumon has taken to address teacher shortages and community engagement. They also covers Dr. Dumon's career progression, the significance of morning routines, and the impact of external pressures such as school labeling on education.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wKwI4-Lbo_0

Takeaways:

• The importance of being visible
• Providing teachers with the skills need to succeed
• Not everyone ends up in education the same way
• Community involvement strengthens the school culture
• There’s more to a school than the labels

Dr. David Dumon serves as the superintendent of Altar Valley School District. He began his career in 1995 as a social studies teacher at Alhambra School District in Phoenix. In 2000, Dr. Dumon started his administrative career at Surprise Elementary, a K – 8 school, in Dysart Unified School District. He spent the next 14 years in Dysart, most of which was as the principal at Surprise Elementary. His school’s achievements were recognized in 2012 when he was selected for the Arizona School Administrator, Distinguished Administrator Award – Elementary Division and honored as a finalist for the Rodel Exemplary Principal Award.

As superintendent of Altar Valley, Dr. Dumon has focused on ensuring schools run efficiently and allocating resources appropriately, while always considering what is best for kids. Dr. Dumon is committed to maintaining small class sizes and offering free, full-day pre school and kindergarten. In 2022, Dr. Dumon was awarded the All Arizona Superintendent Award for Small Districts and completed his certification for American Association for School Administrators (AASA) National Superintendent Certification.

Dr. Dumon is a three-time graduate of Arizona State University where he received his bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees. He lives in Tucson with his wife, daughter, and two dogs.

Sound Bites:

“What’s one small thing someone can do to change their school?”

Follow David Dumon on Social Media:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-dumon-ed-d-3541209/

X: https://x.com/ddumon1

Altar Valley School District No. 51

Website: https://www.altarvalleyschools.org/  

Episode 208 of the Better Learning Podcast

Kevin Stoller is the host of the Better Learning Podcast and Co-Founder of Kay-Twelve, a national leader for educational furniture. Learn more about creating better learning environments at www.Kay-Twelve.com.

For more information on our partners:

Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) - https://www.a4le.org/

Education Leaders' Organization - https://www.ed-leaders.org/

Second Class Foundation - https://secondclassfoundation.org/

EDmarket - https://www.edmarket.org/

Catapult @ Penn GSE - https://catapult.gse.upenn.edu/

Want to be a Guest Speaker? Request on our website

Transcript

208. Dr. David Dumon
===

[00:00:00] Welcome back.

It's another episode of the Better Learning Podcast. My name is Kevin Stoller, host of the show, and we are always trying to pull in different perspectives, make sure we're getting representation from school leaders that are actively out, uh, implementing and seeing what's happening in the world. And then we also are looking at different aspects, but this episode, we are going to really spend the time going into leadership, getting that superintendent, superintendent perspective.

And, uh, I'm going to pull in Dave Dumond, who is a superintendent Altar Vet. Man, I did it now. We were just talking about how it's not pronounced Altar, even though it's spelled that way. It's Altar Valley School District in Tucson. And Dave, how are you doing?

I'm doing great. Um, thank you, Kevin, for having me.

So as a superintendent, you get to see a lot of different things, but I want to get just a little bit of your background of like, well, what was school like for you? Because [00:01:00] I feel like that's that sets the stage a little bit.

Yeah, um, well, school for me is probably. Um, when I think about it, really kind of like why, why I'm, why I'm here today, you know, I started, uh, I went to school, I went to kindergarten twice, you know, so I love school so much that, um, and I've always loved school, but, you know, I did go to school, go to kindergarten twice, um, you know, I was one of those guys, I started when I was four, I got a November birthday, and, um, Yeah, I wasn't, I wasn't ready for kindergarten and I'm probably still that four year old, you know, guy, you know, down, down at the base of it, but I went to school and, um, you know, I wasn't really ready and, um, but I, I do always remember, you know, loving school.

I mean, I remember like, I remember playing school when I was little, but. Uh, yeah, you know, school was always at the beginning was, uh, challenging for me. I remember, uh, you know, I always, always liked it, but just, just challenging. Uh, I remember being in like the low reading [00:02:00] group or the low math group.

I remember as I, uh, I started school in Michigan, moved to Arizona when I was 10. I remember coming to Arizona and even being like even felt like I was like even further behind like I was I wasn't in any Special services, but I remember going to another class for this another class for that My class would be taking a test and i'd be on like headphones listening to I I do remember like The grease soundtrack for some reason I it sticks out to me like they were taking a test and I was doing this and I might have said Sung out loud or something, so, you know, whatever.

Um, but, you know, so school was, was, uh, challenging. Um, but I always liked it and, you know, it didn't, it didn't bother me. Um, and, you know, I just kind of got through and I, I mean, that's part of, of learning is like, uh, you know, fighting through those challenges. And so I. you know, kind of proceeded. And at some point, you know, school, you know, getting good grades and doing, doing school was, was important to me.

And that was kind [00:03:00] of like junior high. Um, and then I got to high school and it kind of all went out the window and it was all about like sports and having fun and goofing around and weightlifting, which, which I really appreciate now, you know, as I'm older, I'm still into weightlifting, you know, so that's like definitely something that's Carries with me a good habit to have, you know, um, is, uh, is that, but those things were important in high school, which then in turn mean, um, you know, what I did after high school.

Like I really didn't know what I wanted to do. And, uh. and, and, um, you know, luckily, uh, you know, cause of a great, uh, like my great, a great wrestling coach, you know, he, he kind of tapped me into like, Hey, uh, you know, I started, he had me volunteer being a wrestling coach at my junior high, I have a little brother who's seven years younger than me, so I spent a lot of time coaching his sports and not doing, probably not helping him all in school, but.

Helping him with sports or athletics and, you know, not that I was good at any of those [00:04:00] things, but just an average athlete, but, you know, helped him. I like teaching and learning. And so kind of those things happened. And, you know, thanks to my wrestling coach, he got me into coaching wrestling. And then my wrestling coach got me a drywall job.

Uh, out of high school and I was doing that and I realized like, wow, this is, this is, this is hard, you know, um, and I don't know if I want this to be my career. So I, you know, went back to, got in, I'm going to go to school. And, um, like I said, like, cause I goofed around in high school, college was hard, you know, I had to have tutors and retake some classes, but, uh.

You know, once you kind of, once I finally got to ASU and got an education program, it just kind of all was like, this is like what I want to do. And not that, you know, I was ready to be a teacher or, or an administrator, but I, I knew this is what I wanted to do. So, uh, yeah. How long were you doing the drywall?

Uh, a couple of years, you know, two years and, you know, enough to teach me skills that still I know enough to, you know, I [00:05:00] can, you know, fix holes and walls and, you know, frame a few things. And, uh, but did that. And, and, uh, and I learned from that, I, um, from doing a paper out like in junior high and that I love the mornings, which helps me as where I'm at now, I really about getting up early, you know, having that time in the morning to.

to think, reflect, you know, uh, exercise, you know, so those are been with me since for a long time. So,

well

that,

all right. So there's a couple of things I want to pull from that. Cause that's, that's super helpful to just set up, you know, like a little bit of the history. Cause I feel like, um, a lot of time when people go into education, like their experience helps shape why they got into it and what they want to do with it.

You said something in there of like, grades are always important to you. And I feel like there's this movement right now and like. Parents are trying to like figure out like, what do we like, what do we really want for our kids? Like, um, you know, like our generation and I'm kind of, I'm in my late forties, at least my generation where I grew [00:06:00] up, Chicago area, it was more of like, it's assumed success looks like going from high school right to college in there.

Um, and, I don't know where, like, there was definitely a pressure to get good grades, but I didn't know, like, was it internal for you? Did you feel an external pressure to get good grades? Like, what, why was that important?

I mean, I know my, well, that's, my parents, I know my parents, I mean, they expected it, but like, there was nothing done to make sure I got good grades.

You know, it was like, it was, uh, You know, I'm a little bit older than you. And it was kind of like, but just, I always, you know, I wanted to do, I wanted to do well, I guess I like to, I'm kind of competitive at the end of the day and to do well in things is, you know, always been, been important, but you know, what I've obviously learned, what, you know, what, you know, what's good is for me or it's different for other people, but yeah, I just, at some point in like junior high and I, that, that was important, but then it all [00:07:00] went out the window and I was like, I just want to do just, I did just enough, just to, uh, to get by, you know, so that, uh, you know, um, you know, I never was, uh, you know, uh, a state champ or anything.

So that was an important, wrestling was great, but it wasn't like the most important thing. So it was just, uh, about the experience, I guess, at some point. Yeah.

Yeah. All right. So a little more history thing, and then I'm going to get more to like, but, but so that aspect of, of working a couple of years.

Doing drywall. How do you think that like did you view when you went to ASU then did you view things? differently versus the ones that just went high school right to college? For

sure. I never had like a normal, like, I have friends that, you know, that I high school friends that I'm still friends with today.

And, you know, one of my friends is like, is a judge now and him and I used to compete in seventh grade ELA. And we still talk about who was better, who had the highest grade. And, you know, there's still, I think it's me. He thinks it's [00:08:00] him, but, uh, uh, but yeah, those, those years of working realize like, well, this is, you know, this is, this is hard.

And, and, you know, I, like, I, I like getting up in the morning early now cause I enjoy it, but then I had to get up cause you know, we're going to work and, and it, you know, it was turning into like, I was getting more responsibilities and, and, and different things. And I'm like, well, is this what I want to do?

And, um, and, uh, it was like, and then back from, you know, working with my brother and those things, I was like, well, You know, I never thought about being a teacher. It's, you know, I, I always like, it was always in my head. I always like, you know, liked it, but I'm like, Oh, you know, the teachings for other people.

That's not for me. I'm going to do something. And I'm like, well, you know, that's like, well, what am I going to do? Am I going to do this? I mean, or am I going to do that? And, and I just, I realized, Oh, I want to be a teacher. You know, I've always wanted to be a teacher. I remember. We did some career testing in junior high and it came up, I was either going to be a teacher or like a clergyman and I didn't, [00:09:00] you know, I don't think I was going to get into that.

So it was, it was more of the teaching route. So,

um, yeah. Yeah. Well, awesome. So then, um, I definitely want to get on some of those habits and things that you did, like, you know, like, just to hear you talk about, like, how important that morning is and the reflection and things like that. You recognize that early.

Um, how, how much do you, like, now that you've looking at your career path of going teacher, because I'm assuming you went, uh, probably shouldn't make the assumption you went teaching and then you went administration and then you just kind of moved into the point where you got went into the superintendent role.

How much, you As your role as a superintendent is what I would say more of like, like leadership, just pure leadership, whether, whether it's in the education sector or not, or focusing more on like the academic side, like what, what's, what, What's your mindset like when you go into the superintendent, like what, [00:10:00] what are the things that you're thinking of and are most important to you?

yeah, so like my, my career, you know, I'm in, I'm starting my 30th year. I'm in my 30th year, my 30th year right now, you know, I was, uh, I, you know, I got into education. I taught for five years. I had five different principals in five years. And that's kind of like how I got into the administrative track was like, well, you know, not that any of them were, were bad, just, they were all, I'm like, I've had five and you know, you got five different leaders doing five different things in five years.

And I'm like, well, I can do this. And so easier said than done, you know? So then, you know, you get into, uh, you know, being a leader and it's like You know, you, um, you know, we talk, you know, about what, you know, what is your vision and like, what's important and then managing the day to day, you know, and you, you gotta manage those two things and like, what do you want, um, long term and then like, what do you need to do today?

[00:11:00] So, you know, your, your, your question is, uh,

it was a

loaded question. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. Uh, yeah. But, uh, you know, my, my goal is to always be like, you know, we, we, you know, always look into the future and trying to make sure my people, you know, I have two schools, uh, in my district that my, my, uh, my, my schools, my principals, my teachers have.

Um, you know, I'm, you know, I make sure that, um, you know, I'm visiting, you know, visiting, uh, you know, and hanging out with the, uh, really the kids are what I enjoy. I mean, I went around and did like all stars of the month yesterday and, you know, and, you know, try to make sure I go and just hang out at lunch or visit and, and, you know, really seeing what's going on at the school so that I can help make sure You know, that everybody has what they need to be successful.

Yeah, yeah. It's one of those things, because I did not come in through the education [00:12:00] route. Like, I, um, my professional career is on, like, I work in the education sector. So I'm always looking at, like, the correlations. And, like, for me, like, I did okay at school. But it was, like, more of, like, I was really good at just playing the game.

of school, um, but I really like, like my education, like my learning, my desire for learning actually happened once I graduated college. Like that was really like my biggest, it's been in my twenties and my thirties of just this discipline of like learning and seeking sources and, and trying to do that.

And one of the things that is really difficult in the business world is that you typically, that typically you take practitioners, somebody who's really good at something and because they're so good at it, they get promoted. And now they're in a skill set that they've never, they haven't been trained for and they have to learn a whole new skill set because they're no longer practitioners.

And I, and I'm seeing the parallels [00:13:00] that happen in education where you have teachers that typically are really good at it. So then they get tapped on the shoulder when there's an administration position that opens up. And you do that and, and it just kind of goes that way. And trying to recognize like, do they have the right skill sets?

Like what's the development? What's the training that happens with that, um, component to that? What was that like for you? And as like you're developing like within your district, do you think through that? Are there things that like, that, that you can see with that? Because I feel like that. That as I work with with school superintendents, that's the piece where I feel like, um, it is.

Kind of where, where there's a gap in there. And I, and I, and I don't want to speak for you.

No, every step of the way, it's been like you just said, you know, you, you know, you, you think, Oh, I can do better. [00:14:00] And then, you know, now I'm a, I'm a assistant principal for a couple of years, actually as a teacher on special assignment.

It was funny. I was just at, at my, my mom's house and my daughter wanted to, to see my, uh, Look at my phone and I'm like, or something. And I'm like, Hey, let's look at the old Facebook. I got out some albums and we started flipping through some things. And then my dad had an article when I got promoted from TOSA, which I'm like, Oh, I was a TOSA to the principal of the, you know, the most, you know, the neediest school in the district.

You know, I have the least experience. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm looking at all these other people. You know, I was in a bigger district in Phoenix, uh, well it was a small district at that time and they grew from like six schools to 24 schools in the time I was there and so. I'm taking over, you know, one of these schools and I'm the least experienced, you know, I'm a TOSA and, you know, kind of like exactly what you say.

I'm like, all right, here you go. And, um, and it was, uh, yeah, it was, it was, it was, uh, you know, I was at [00:15:00] that school for, uh, you know, two years as an assistant and 10 years as the principal and, um, you know, really proud of the work I did there, but it was, it was, uh, you know, at that time they had like, uh, Reading first was around, you know, and so I learned so much, you know, we, we had a partnership with West Ed and I learned so much like how to, how to, you know, because I wasn't a, an elementary teacher.

I was a middle school, middle school teacher. And, uh, but I learned so much about reading and, and, um, from West Ed and, and a, and a great coach, like. I learned so much during, during that time, like that I, and I've, I've called her over the years and said, I thank you for everything you've taught me about being a leader and, uh, and, uh, and, uh, you know, knowing about reading instruction.

And so for sure, I didn't know what I was getting into. And, you know, I know I, I, the superintendent had hired me at the time, you know, told me. You know, why she hired me and, and, uh, which meant a lot, um, [00:16:00] you know, and, um, you know, it really took that and ran with it. And then from, from doing that, um, you know, like I ended up, uh, district office for, you know, being a director of, uh, Uh, Federal Programs, because my school was Title I, and we were a successful Title I school at that point, you know, we were a high performing Title I school, and we're like, hey, let's put Dave in charge of Federal Programs, and then Community Education, which, you know, I knew nothing about, which, which got me my experience with dealing with high schools and facilities rentals, and then that included, like, Let's open up some preschools and have, have Dave do that.

And so that was, um, you know, that was great. And at that point it was like, I was, you know, I was again, another challenge, more learning. And, you know, I love learning and, um, you know, and I think that's kind of as a superintendent. every day I'm learning something. Uh, you know, I I, I, I'm not really, I know we could, this could probably be another podcast about my experiences with the [00:17:00] school facilities board and that whole process.

Like, I'm still learning that and, you know, hopefully I'm, I'm close to figuring that out. But always, we're always learning. And so, you know, from going from that job, you know, and being a director for two years, what I realized was like, I, I kind of didn't like it because in a big district, nobody. You know, I'm just a director.

Just go direct, you know, when you're a principal of a high performing school, you know, It just felt like I was doing more. So I was like, well, I either want to go back and be a principal or try to be in a superintendent. So that's kind of how I ended up, ended up here. Um, you know, doing, you know, moving from, you know, Phoenix to Tucson and, and, you know, being an ASU grad and all of that stuff, you know, I, I, I, but I, I, I thoroughly love Tucson.

Um, and, uh, you know, been here 10 years and it's, it's, uh, you know, But we're, you know, I'm always, always having to learn as a superintendent is what I realized and you, you, uh, and, and that's what I like about it. It's never the [00:18:00] same and I've got to learn something new.

Yeah. And it's so complicated and you're kind of bucking the trend here.

Cause how, how many years? Are you in this role now?

Been 30 years and 10 years at Alter Valley.

So 10 years. And that's really uncommon in, in, when you look at the data right now, where there does seem to be more turnover. And I think that's where I was, you know, like in a poorly way of wording those questions of, of getting to, it's like, you really start learning the role.

It takes two or three years to like, really even like feel like, all right, I know what I'm doing. I got this now. Um, and that's where, you know, like just from the outside looking in, the ones that have been there longer are the ones that have been really able to to implement things and really drive that cultural and that, that really like changed throughout the district in there.

I I mean, 10 years in there, like, [00:19:00] what, where, where are you at right now? Like, how, how do you feel about things? Like what are the things that are keeping you up at night? What are, what are the things that you're thinking of at this point?

Well, yeah, there's still, there's a lot of things. Um, but you know, probably like one of my, You know, one of the things that's not a problem right now, but it will be, or it always is, is, um, you know, we're, you know, we're, Altar Valley is not that far from downtown Tucson.

We're about 25 miles, but because it's, you know, down a two lane highway, it seems like it's out in the middle of nowhere. We really struggle, and everybody does, but with, with, with teachers. And so back, like, six, seven years ago, when I first, when I, even when I first came here, like, We, we pretty much do not have people applying for jobs here when, you know, when I have a, have an opening.

And so right now, half of my staff are international teachers. And so, you know, um, an ongoing challenge because right now they're on J 1 [00:20:00] visas. They're here for three to five years. And so it's kind of like a little treadmill that I'm on. And so I, it, it took me a couple, well, it took me more than a couple of years, but now I'm realizing that, like, The J 1 visa teachers, they're great, and we've had great, great success, but half of my staff is on, is basically that right now, so now I need to be, I'm looking at the H 1B visas, and how I, and why I didn't think of it sooner, you know, I'm like, well, why didn't I think of this sooner, you know, because now, you know, we're, you know, five, six years into this process, and so I've been starting to, you know, turn over some teachers and bring in a new teacher, so now I'm trying to look into, Well, how can I get teachers here for the long term, you know, and get them built into our, you know, our community and, and, um, you know, be part of our community and stay in our community versus coming here for five years and then leave in and then maybe I can get them back in two years or not.

And it's try to build. Build a really good team that's going to be here for the long term.

Yeah, that's really interesting. I mean, [00:21:00] that's a creative way to deal with, uh, yeah, the teacher shortage and recruiting. Um, yeah, what was that thought process when you were? You're saying like, man, I need teachers and if they're not here, I need to go look somewhere else.

Yeah.

Talk through that.

Well, you know, we have a, I'm sure every county has, you know, we, we do, you know, we have a Pima County superintendents collaborative. And so, you know, I talked to those superintendents, but most of them are, um, you know, in town. So they don't, I mean, they have challenges and they're doing the same thing, but then.

You know, we have this, this random, uh, you know, Ajo school district, which is even west of me, but as part of Pima County, but might be closer to Maricopa County. You know, I talking to him and you know, he, he challenges even bigger than me. And so kind of talking to him and then you're, you're talking to our colleague, my colleagues in town and just realize, okay, this, so this is an option.

And so I just kind of, I had to do something. And if I did nothing, we would, we would [00:22:00] have no teachers. And so I had to, I had to, you know, figure out how to get highly qualified teachers. You know, the, the, some of the teachers are great. I mean, they're great. And we have some amazing teachers. We just, we've had, you know, hate to see them go.

And so it's like, how can I get some, get them back? And how can I keep them is really what I, what I I'm trying to figure out now.

Yeah. So, It's interesting because I've been following you on, on social media too, and it does seem like you have this really good group of, of superintendents that, that you connect with, um, and I mean, talk through what, what's that interaction like when, you know, like when you're talking to the neighboring districts and ones around you, what are you guys typically talking about?

well just like, you know, different things like what we're doing with, um, you know, our budgets or, you know, like I, you know, you know, I have declining enrollment. I mean, all of us, not all of us, but a lot of us have declining enrollment. What are [00:23:00] we doing? How are we dealing with that? You know, what are we doing with our, uh, our different like paper performance funds?

And, you know, how are we, you know, at the end of the day, you know, We're all trying to do the same work, so we try to work together, and for like, like myself, you know, there's a couple other smaller districts like myself in Pima County, and then it just, it's really helpful for me to, you know, we're all doing the same work, have the same challenges, you know, because sometimes I'm, here and I'm like, I forget like, Oh, this is, and it's just me.

And then I'm like, Oh no, probably not. And so I'll, I'll call somebody or we'll, I'll go to the meeting and then, you know, sometimes I'll, you know, I'll be more stressed out than before I got there, but you know, I'll talk to a friend and, you know, it'll, it just, I'll, it's really important about having relationships and being able to pick up the phone and call somebody.

Yeah, and that's what I've always identified the ones and like me just for in our short interaction I'm like [00:24:00] I can already tell you're a good leader because one you have really good habits You have good Discipline and things that you're doing to give you that time to self reflect and be able to really think through and process things And two is that you're seeking out other resources here.

You're yeah, you will when you have a problem You're not just gonna be like I'm gonna figure it out I'm gonna you're gonna be like I'm gonna use my resources to help people Figure this out, whether it's talking to other people and looking outside.

I have my, you know, my, like my colleagues, my wife is important.

And my nine year old daughter, you know, she just, she's turning nine today, turned nine today. So, and you know, she knows everything. Uh, so like, she's great, you know, um, so to talk to her about her, her school and learning, and she, she doesn't go to Altar Valley. So it's like, you know, but she'll come out and visit and.

You know, she has a little assistant superintendent, uh, name badge that we'll, you know, we'll do walkthroughs with when she comes out and, uh, she's, uh, you know, she's great too. So I feel, I [00:25:00] feel real lucky to have a great support system.

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For the people that are not in Arizona, Arizona is a very unique, um, state in that it's open enrollment.

It's a really strong charter. Like, do you face a lot of competition in, in. In your area? Yeah. Yeah. What's the dynamic like right now?

I don't, well, we don't have charters or, but, um, you know, because where we're at, like people can make the choice to like, I'm gonna, you know, if they work in town, I'm gonna drive my, my, my, my, my child into town and put them into school.

That I, that I, that's by my work. Um, you know, we have, uh, you know, we have. Um, homeschooling, you know, is, is a thing, you know, the vouchers is, is, uh, you know, our enrollment is, you know, is, you know, we're small. So to have [00:27:00] a decline enrollment of 40 kids from last year to this year is, is a big deal. And, you know, when I started here 10 years ago, we were over 700 kids and now we're under 500.

So that's, you know, that's a big deal. And so man, you know, managing that, um, you know, But yeah, the, uh, you know, there's not like direct competition next door to me. Like, you know, uh, colleagues in town where right across the street, there's a, there's a charter school that they're, you know, or, or not that that's a bad thing, but you know, there's options everywhere and it's not like I have, there's an option right next door.

But, um, you know, those are all realities of things. And then, you know, just trying to. You know, provide the best opportunities for our families is, you know, really what we're, we're trying to do here.

Yeah. Do you, do you mind talking through a little bit of your relationship with the board, like how, how much, how little interaction, like what, what's that dynamic look like?

So,

um, uh, Alter Valley School Board is, um, you know, uh, I feel like I have, uh, a [00:28:00] really great school board. Uh, they're, they're, you know, five members. Um, you know, two, let me, two of them, one of them is a former student here. His mom used to be a board president. I mean, actually, two of them were former students, the other ones, her dad was on the board, you know, so there's this history, uh, one of my newest board members, her mother in law was on the board, um, you know, so, um, I don't want to leave anyone out, and then my other new board, other board member, uh, who's, who's new also, you know.

He used to be my operations director. So, you know, they all come with history to Altar Valley for, you know, longer than me. And, uh, you know, like I said, I've been here 10 years. And so they, they're, you know, they, they have a history. They're invested and they, they really, uh, they care about our kids. And, um, and I have a great, great relationship with them and a working relationship.

And so it's been, I've been, I feel really lucky to have such a great board.

[00:29:00] Well, that's good. Yeah, that's, those are typically the things that, yeah, that I'm hearing. It's either like the struggle with the board, it's a struggle with competition or enrollment. Um, and you know, and then the other is kind of the getting out there and the trust and the relationship building with, with the community.

How much time or focus do you, do you spend on that or is that just kind of naturally happen for you?

Um, well, I don't know. I mean, the community is, um, our community is, is, um, Like, I kind of feel like at times, Alter Valley is the hub of, uh, you know, of, uh, our, uh, our, our Three Points Robles Junction community.

We just, uh, last month, you know, we've had our, uh, had our, the 17th Avenue, 17th annual, um, Robles Junction Three Points Community Festival, which is not an Alter Valley event, but it's. It's housed at our elementary school. And so we, uh, it comes in and we, you know, we typically have, you know, [00:30:00] 2000 people come to that event.

And, you know, I take a lot of pride in that. And, um, I work with, uh, our friends at Robles Ranch and other community members, Pima County, to put this event on. And so, you know, that's always one of our highlights of our year. We do, uh, Altar Valley in the Robles Elementary. We do a community Thanksgiving.

Again, I'm a partner with the, the, the one of Serenity, Serenity Church, uh, uh, Three Points Fire, where we, we, uh, we do, uh, we do free, free meals for the community members that, that need it on Thanksgiving. You know, we, as a school, then we try to do quarterly family fun nights where we try to feed, you know, as many people as we can.

Obviously, there's got to be a cut on that. We feed them to come in and then we have, we have fun, you know, so, um, you know, the community is, is, uh, you know, really, Uh, important to us at Altar Valley and, um, and the, and the governing board, you know, that's something a lot of, you know, a lot of these [00:31:00] things has always been important to them, um, and, and, and I love being able to, to be a part of those things.

I, I mentioned it before, but one of the things that I feel like. Looking at a much broader view at the country level, I feel like there's there's a lot of discussion at the parent level right now of like, what do we really want for our schools? Um, and then it's really interesting when you like break it down and you really get into the local one of like, like, what does success look like?

For it. And, you know, if, if you had to answer that for your district, like what, what are the, what are the things that, if you were gonna say, Hey, if we can do this, we, we are doing exactly what, what we should be doing?

Well, so I, I, you know, I wanna be able to provide a, a, a safe place where our parents know they're sending their place to a safe place where their, their kids are, are, are loved and valued and, and, and respected.

I mean, really, um. I, uh, I, I, I, I still like to have fun. [00:32:00] And when I, I want to, when I go see kids and I visit classrooms, I, I, it's, it's important to me that they are having fun, they're safe. And, um, you know, those are important things to me. That's

great. Are there external things that are making it harder for that?

Yeah, for sure. Uh, like, you know, school labels just came out and, and, uh, Um, you know, those are, uh, those are challenging, you know, Altar Valley, you know, they're, they're giving district letter grades out now, and so Altar Valley is a, is a B, so that's, that's, you know, I, I didn't know it was going to be a B until it was going to be a B.

And then, you know, my middle school's a B and my, uh, elementary school's a C and it had been a D and that, that was, you know, that, that was stressful, you know, last year. And, you know, you have parents that know that. And, and, you know, that's like, it's a, it's a D, but. It is, but, you know, we're doing, you know, [00:33:00] you know, your, your, your children are safe here.

They're, they're valued, they're loved, they're cared for. And, you know, um, and, and yeah, and that's, I don't want that either. You know, I, you know, I want to. You know, I want to have a better grade also. And so we're, you know, B in a C or B district, but yeah, those are definitely pressures and, and, and things that, uh, people look at really make a quick judgment and, and, uh, until you, you know, we'll come visit our school and you'll see how awesome it is.

And, and, uh, yeah.

Yeah, I think that's the hardest thing is like, I mean, you see, we, our team wears these radically student centered shirts. That's like, really like what we're always like, man, just think we're how lucky are we that our work impacts the next generation? Like, if we just keep that focus of like, what, why we're doing this, it's about the students, it's about giving them the best opportunity of it.

Is there anything that, like, if you can wave a magic wand and say, like, Hey, if we just, like, we're getting so caught up on something [00:34:00] else. Is there something that you could pinpoint or, or maybe it's a few things to say, like, Man, our, our job and our outcomes would be a lot better if we could just fix this.

well, you know, I know our teachers and our staff are, you know, they work so hard and I just feel like, you know, you know, they all, they love what they do and, and, um, and, you know, just, uh, to know that they're doing the best they can to our teachers are, you know, we have teachers. So just kind of. You know, to think about, um, teachers are people and are, you know, bus drivers and, you know, they're, you know, you know, they're all working really hard and they all have a life and things.

And, and, and, you know, we, I, sometimes I think. People forget that and you know, I, I mean, maybe that would be one thing. Just remember that teachers are people, uh, paraprofessionals are people, bus drivers, we're all, you know, in this and like, let's just, uh, you know, let's be [00:35:00] kind and, you know, just do the best we can and, uh.

You know, I don't know. Um, that'd be one thing to, you know, I don't know if it'd be waving a magic wand to remind people that, that, uh, about that.

Yeah, I, I, I think that's one of the things too, like when I hear you talk about like the, you know, like the letter grade, like everyone's competitive. Nobody wants to have like a bad letter grade on there.

But to your point of like, what, what other, professions and jobs or things like, do you get a label put on publicly and be like, Oh, like, yeah, that trash collector. Oh, he got a C minus today and everyone sees it and is pointing and be like, you got a C minus. Like,

like

that's one of the things to me. I'm like, ah, like I get why people are doing that, but I feel like it puts a, it just puts the schools in a negative, like stance.

To begin with, because now they have to cater to some like [00:36:00] outside measuring system that may or may not be like really in the best interest of kids. And I don't know how to correct that, but I feel like that's one of the things that it's like, everyone wants to have a measurement, but are these measurements really good measurements or not?

So does that come into play at all? Like when you see those grades, do you look at it and be like, Like, well, what are the things that we can do and do? And, and I guess, do they align with what you think you would need to do if it wasn't just for the grade?

Yeah. I mean, um, his ending, you know, the grades really just come from, you know, our state test, the double ASA.

And, and, and so. Yeah, we, we definitely, we need to do a better job and we've, we've spent, um, and, and, and, uh, so when I look at those and I, I, I see, see like some of the things were not some of like all the things we're trying to do obviously is to, to do better, you know, to do better on those, those measures.

Uh, you know, we've spent a lot of time the past two years, [00:37:00] um, focusing on, um, doing, um, you know, uh, letters training for our teachers. It really helped them to be like better, uh, you know, you get their literacy, literacy endorsement and, uh, to be better, you know, reading teachers. Cause to me, like, Going back to when I was a principal, like reading is king.

Like we got to be able to read and, and, uh, you know, comprehend text. And so, you know, that's like, we spent the past two years and actually, and we're, we're in year three, you know, making sure that people that didn't get the first two years are caught up and, you know, you know, continuing to make sure everyone has a professional development to have the skills that they need to, to move forward.

And. And what's neat is like, we've, it's shown that it's worked, you know? So it's like, great. And so we're going to keep doing it.

Nice. Well, thanks for letting me dig into a bunch of just stuff to get like what, yeah, like what goes on in your head and in that seat where I feel like just a lot of people just don't get.

[00:38:00] That opportunity to, to, to do that. Is there anything that I didn't ask that I, that I should be asking you about?

I'm sure there is. I mean, I'm sure we could, you know, get, go, uh, go on, you know, go on longer, but no, I'm good. I think, uh, we, we covered, uh, covered a lot here, so I feel good.

Oh, good. Well, good.

Well, that's why we do this. We want to make sure that we're hitting a lot of different perspectives, um, in education, just like in a lot of other aspects of our life. It's really easy to stay in a silo and think like, Oh, I, we know what's going on, but that's a big part of this show is like, let's give different perspectives.

Let's see. And so we can hear what is really going on and, uh, and try to cross things over because at the day, we, I truly believe all of us have the same goal in mind. We want to give every kid the best opportunity to succeed. And, uh, and that's what's so great about education and people that are involved with it.

So, um, Dave, thank you for what you're doing and your role. It's like, [00:39:00] it's truly like a public servant. role. I think it's like it is just one of those roles in society that just does not get enough credit because it plays so many different things for a community. So thank you for what you're doing. Well,

thanks for having me, Kevin.

Appreciate it.

And, uh, yeah, to the listeners, if you are not already a subscriber, hit subscribe wherever you wherever you're listening or watching this. Um, yeah, we, YouTube as well. We're getting a lot more views of people who want the video component to it. Um, But BetterLearningPodcast. com is the hub for anything, uh, and where we get a lot of ideas and guest, uh, requests from there too.

So great talking to you, Dave, and, uh, we'll, we'll talk soon. All right. Great. Thank you.