Susan Wildes, the new principal at Alta Vista Elementary School has a nickname: Turbo.
“She’s turbo because she’s a progressive thinker,” said Redondo Beach Unified School District Superintendent Steven Keller. “She’s always looking at what’s next, and she’s three moves out.”
As a new principal for a high-achieving school in Redondo Beach, people in the community have been curious about what she’s going to do, and if she’s going to do it well.
“Honestly I thought she’d be good,” said Keller. “I just didn’t know she’d be this good.”
Wildes, who juggles both motherhood and the job as principal, has always been focused on education. She never intended to become a principal, but after working as a teacher and curriculum specialist for various achievement level schools in Virginia, California, Georgia and outside Washington D.C, the job at Alta Vista was a natural fit.
“I’ve taught in the classroom for a long time,” said Wildes. “I get teachers. I think they feel that I am someone who can relate to them. I’ve taught just about every elementary grade level, I’ve been in high performing schools; I’ve been in Title 1 schools. I have a lot of experience.”
Keller also believes Wildes is a great mom. “It’s a tough world for women in the workplace. Susan has certainly managed to juggle all aspects of her professional and personal life in an exemplary manner. She’s a role model for women.”
Wildes, who is finishing up her first year at Alta Vista, has been focusing on educating the whole student, and helping the teachers find their own techniques for doing so.
“I would have been content being a classroom teacher for the rest of my life,” said Wildes. “I was always pretty happy with what I was doing. When I came out here the position kind of opened up and I thought, “Why not try it?’”
Wildes, her husband and her two twin daughters moved to Hermosa Beach in November 2010.
“They are all great districts, but I love the diversity of Redondo Beach,” said Wildes. “I love just how smart everybody was, everybody is forward thinking. Just in terms of being in a recession when teachers are being laid off in districts all round us- we [Alta Vista] hired seven new teachers this year. That kind of really smart thinking about money and putting what’s best for kids first really drew me to the district, especially with having two children. I don’t believe in working anywhere where I wouldn’t feel passionate about bringing my own children to.”
Wildes’ days are never dull.
“I have a tummy ache,” one student said, coming up to Wildes in the hallway outside her office door. Wildes bent down and asked her what’s wrong. “I ate a dandelion seed,” answered the kid. Wildes held her hand and told her she’ll be fine. “Go get a drink of water, it will pass right through,” she said.
“Things you don’t expect pop up,” said Wildes. “In a classroom you control what happens, you plan for it and react. Being a principal, I very rarely know what my day’s going to be like. From talking to a student about swallowing a dandelion to going to a classroom to help a teacher who needs it.”
One of Wildes’ initial goals going into the job was to look at the general morale of the school and build the teachers up as a team so they would be able to collaborate and feel open enough to ask for help when they needed it.
“The biggest thing for me when I came here was getting teachers to stop asking what they should be doing and think about what they felt the kids needed,” said Wildes. “They as a school felt they needed to follow a math or reading program and tried to make sure they followed it and didn’t break the rules of the program. I had to get them to step back and trust me and trust in themselves that they can make better decisions than a text book company ever could.”
During her day, she usually walks the building and pops into various classrooms to check on the teachers.
“My favorite thing is going in and being a coach,” said Wildes. “I like it a lot more than being an evaluator, it helps build trust. Teachers come to me if they need help as opposed to me ‘catching’ them needing help.”
The teachers agree.
“She is absolutely the easiest principal ever had to work with,” said fifth grade teacher Brianne Crumpacker. “She’s easy to communicate with and down to earth. I’m comfortable to go to her at any time.”
Teacher Angela Chen appreciates her ideas and her ability to follow through and try new ideas. “She’s really open to hear teacher’s ideas and suggestions,” said Chen. “We work together as a team to determine what are essentials we need to stick with and what’s the nitty gritty. Plus the kids seem to really respect her.”
One idea she wasn’t afraid of tackling was sending Alta Vista’s fifth graders to science camp for a week. Most schools in the district participated in the event, but nobody at Alta Vista was brave enough to tackle the challenge until Wildes arrived.
“Going to camp was huge,” said Chen. “It was great to provide kids that opportunity. Without [the] parents’ and Susan’s help we couldn’t have accomplished that.”
In just a year, Alta Vista students and teachers have had a chance to get to know Wildes and understand her commitment and passion for teaching students in an interactive way.
“It’s really nice and easy to work for her,” said Chen. “It’s nice to have that support and be reassured when you’re doing a job like this and have somebody to go to. It makes the environment so much easier to work in.”
