Above and Beyond
Principal Kevin Allen delivers a fist bump to kindergarten student Cate Lucas, age 6. Photo by David Rosenfeld
Kevin Allen is the principal everyone wished they had
Kevin Allen doesn’t just know the names of all 421 students at Soleado Elementary School in Rancho Palos Verdes where he’s served as principal for the past seven years. He knows the names of every parent and every car associated with each child.
There isn’t a morning that goes by that Allen doesn’t greet each child in the parking lot as they come to school in the morning, always with a wide grin and usually wearing his trademark bow tie.
In the afternoon, he’s out there again, summoning children as parents pull in to pick them up. Sometimes he uses a bullhorn to call a kid who might be halfway across the playground as his mother pulls into the parking lot, which is a good incentive to be ready next time.
And it’s not just their names. Allen notices the little things. Like when students get new bands on their braces. He’s complimenting moms on their new hairstyles or the new car they drove to school that day. He’s offering condolences and best wishes, quick progress reports and an occasional fist bump to students.
After school and on weekends, this principal routinely attends students’ piano recitals or sporting events. He visits students if they’re in the hospital. He takes part in school fundraisers at Ruby’s where he waits tables for a night. And he’s occasionally on the playground at recess playing basketball or handball with the kids in the Converse sneakers he keeps in his office.
“I just think it’s important that they see I’m visible and they know I care about them as people and their accomplishments,” Allen said from his office adorned with photos of him at different events with the kids.
In just a few minutes with Allen, it’s clear he has a deep passion for his job and the profound impact he can have on students’ lives. Formerly a middle school teacher who spent five years teaching in Watts and two stints in San Francisco, Allen said he had administrators early on tell him he should become a principal.
“When you’re a teacher you have a huge impact on your classroom and a group of students,” Allen said. “But when you’re a principal, you can impact a much larger scope of kids and families. I love the fact I can make sure that all of the students in a much larger environment are being supported.”
As a testament to his success, Soleado recently earned a California Distinguished School award. Overall test scores have improved each year since Allen took office. But while test scores and awards are noteworthy, far more important to Allen are the values he’s trying to instill in the students.
“You can ask any of the students on this campus, ‘What’s the most important thing to Mr. Allen?’ and they’ll say kindness,” Allen said. “The kids all know that. I consistently tell them you can make a million dollars a year or you can wait tables or whatever, but if you’re kind, that’s the gauge of success in life.”
Unique Innovations
First grade teacher Kathy Burson said Allen makes the campus a happy place to be. “He’s always positive and always cheerful,” said Burson, who’s taught at Soleado for 17 years. “He’s a real presence here.”
When it comes to the classroom and the general functions of the school, Burson said Allen has helped tighten up the way the staff does certain things. And he’s instilled in the teachers a sense of reflection.
“Reflective teaching means you don’t just do what comes to you in a book and what you’re asked to do by state standards,” Burson said. “You look at what you do and think whether it’s working and if there is a way to do this better.”
Allen said he prefers to look at the whole child.
“I think test scores are important as a nice snapshot of where kids are,” Allen said. “But I tell my staff this every day, and I truly believe it, if we’re doing what we should be doing December through April then when the tests hit in May they’ll take care of themselves.”
Allen’s been doing some unique things to foster leadership skills on campus. One program Allen created called Student Yard Supervisors takes students, chosen by their teachers, and trains them on how to resolve conflicts in the playground.
Students meet with Allen for three days at the beginning of the school year during lunch. He calls it a working lunch and the program is a big honor so the kids don’t mind giving up their recess. At the end of the three days, each student receives a yellow vest, a whistle and a manual that contains the rules for games like handball and volleyball. Students are taught to resolve minor conflicts through “rock, paper, scissors.”
“It’s a great way of bringing leadership qualities to the forefront in students,” Burson said. “Sometimes it’s a quiet student. Sometimes it’s a really squirrelly student, but it’s a way of tapping into these strengths that sometimes you don’t recognize. He’s very willing to recognize strengths that aren’t necessarily technical strengths.”
Teaching tolerance
Nearly a quarter of the students at Soleado speak English as a second language. Many of them come from Japan and Korea where families seek out the grade school for its reputation as having a top-notch English Language Learner (ELL) program.
“When you look at that diversity, it’s so important that we can all play in the sandbox together and experience one another’s lives in a positive way,” Allen said.
Teaching kids to be tolerant and accepting of one another’s differences is one of the most important things Allen said he tries to instill in students.
“Kids can be cruel,” Allen said. “Test scores are important. But teaching kids to be kind, teaching kids to be tolerant and accepting of one another, that is so much more important because it makes a better world.”
In many respects Allen is uniquely qualified to talk about tolerance. He and his partner Mike are one of 18,000 same-sex couples in California who are legally married. The pair often attends school-related events like barbecue cookouts and school plays. Growing up, Allen said he faced some bullying.
“Words do hurt,” Allen said. “I don’t want any kid to walk out of my school feeling like it’s okay to make anybody else feel less than anything. And that’s really important to me. I don’t think it has anything to do with the fact that I may be gay or not. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that we’re people on this earth and we need to share it together and that starts with little kids.”
Appreciation
Catherine Lucas, whose daughter Cate is a kindergartener at Soleado Elementary, said Allen has helped foster a growing sense of community here in this quiet neighborhood near the Promenade on the Peninsula.
“It takes the staff, the administration and the parents to all come together and work for the betterment of our kids all around,” Lucas said. “He has created a really wonderful atmosphere in the community.”
Lara Hanlon, also a mother of a kindergarten student at Soleado, attended the grade school as a child. She said he makes people proud to be a part of the community.
“It’s such a nice environment. These kids love to go to school,” she said. “One thing that’s so important to him is that the kids are good citizens and they are good to each other. I think it’s great. I didn’t realize how lucky we were, and I’m not the only one who feels this way.”
When a student gets called to the principal’s office at Soleado, you won’t hear the usual groans or the, “Oooo, you’re in trouble,” that many remember from grade school. Yet still, there are times when he must be firm. He said he tries to make the students understand what it must have felt like for the other person.
“One thing I want to instill in students is that empathy,” Allen said. “When I discipline, I allow the other kid to tell him what it felt like. The kids need to hear that and understand that other people have feelings too. They don’t always think about that when they’re in the midst of doing something unkind. I remember what that felt like.” PEN