By Erica Rocha
Ms. Gonzales left her math students without saying a word about why she was leaving.
On Oct. 23, Gonzales was notified that she was to start her new position as an assistant principal at Lane. Prior to this, she taught math at Lane, maintained the school website, and sponsored the Girls in Engineering, Math, and Science (GEMS) club.
According to Head Principal, Dr. Dignam, he had several resumes to review for the new position. He knew he needed someone “good with tech” because of the increasing amount of technology that has been incorporated into the school over the past year and a half. Dignam also mentioned Gonzales’ background in mathematics, her skills in web design, and her experience as a data strategist, made her a good candidate for the position.
“It’s going to be extremely important to have an administrator who can provide background on [the PARCC assessment and other computer applications] for teachers,” Dignam said. “Ms. Gonzales had been doing that, so when the AP position opened up I wanted to make sure whoever fitted in that was able to fill that quality.”
Last year, Dignam was told that CPS recommended six assistant principal positions for Lane.
“Last year coming in I wasn’t too sure how it was going to work with budget, so that sixth position we did not fill,” Dignam said. “We figured for this year we needed to have it filled.”
Gonzales believes that Dignam has chosen the six AP positions based on each individuals distinct set of skills.
“Dr. Dignam wanted to form a team with unique members,” Gonzales said. “He wanted each team member to contribute something that wasn’t necessarily the same as another. If you look at all his assistant principals, all of them have very specific backgrounds and very specific things that they do.”
Dignam felt that he was lacking someone that had the background to oversee the math department. Gonzales is now able to do so and will continue the training teachers on Gradebook and the CPS Google applications, as well as oversee the programming office.
Although Gonzales likes her
new position on the administration, she has found it difficult to leave her teaching position.
“I was happy about it. It was something that I always saw myself doing,” Gonzales said. “But as someone who has only been teaching, since I graduated from college, it was very difficult for me to make the decision to leave the classroom.”
Gonzales finds that the biggest disadvantage to being the new assistant principal is not being in the classroom.
“Just deciding to interview was a difficult decision for me because I do love being in front of the classroom, working with the kids, and having that relationship that goes beyond the 50 minutes that you see them everyday,” Gonzales said. “In the end, I think that what I was doing outside of the classroom was more beneficial to the entire student body.”
However, Gonzales continues to talk to her colleagues in the math department to emphasize how important it is for them to communicate with her so that she can “keep the pulse of what’s happening with the classroom.”
“Right now [the transition] is still very fresh,” Gonzales said. “I mean I was only in the classroom about a month ago but over time that’s something that I don’t want to lose. I still want to know what it’s like for a teacher in the classroom, what it’s like for a student in the classroom, because education should change over time. The teacher who teaches twenty years from now shouldn’t be doing the same exact thing that they’re doing today.”
Although Gonzales misses her students, she enjoys the new sense of her opinion being valued more than previous years.
“I get to see more of what’s going on in the school,” Gonzales said. “I feel like my voice is better heard. I could make some of the decisions and make some of the impacts I couldn’t do from the role I had previously.”
Gonzales is currently working on making the website more interactive, which has been a goal of hers even before she was in the administration. She also wants to improve the online registration system that was started last year, and gather funds from local businesses and grants to gain more publicity for Lane.
