Photos by Dennis Evanosky

Cooper

With the beginning of a new school year come many new administrative faces at schools all around the district. Changes in leadership took place at Otis Elementary School, Wood Middle School, Encinal High School and the Alameda Science and Technology Institute (ASTI).

At ASTI, the administrators are Emily Ramos and Steven Fong, who have been named the teachers-in-charge of the school and share the workload. Prior to this year, ASTI had an appointed principal from the school district office who was available just 20 percent of the time. Ramos, who has a master's degree in educational leadership, is excited about her fifth year working in the district. "I read about the ASTI program online and was excited about the small classes and diverse population. Everyone knows each other and you know something more about the students."

Ramos also appreciates how ASTI students take charge of their education and how average high school kids have the chance to develop something they're interested in. Fong, who taught at Berkeley High till 2007, expresses that he can connect with his students as a principal and a teacher. "It's a nice mix because both Emily [Ramos] and I teach regular classes, and in that sense, we're peers and teachers [as well as] take care of administrative stuff." For both, their goals are to make sure their students succeed and get more parents involved.

Cho

Encinal High School's Principal Mike Cooper knew he wanted to work as a teacher from the first time he substituted in Alameda. "I'm a really positive person and I like to encourage kids. When I first substituted, within a week, I knew it was what I wanted to do." Prior to his career at Encinal, Cooper taught at the Hawthorne year-round school in Oakland and at Island High School for eight years. Before he was named principal at Encinal, he had been vice principal there for three years.

"In general, our most important goal is to make sure we're providing an outstanding opportunity for all kids to learn," said Cooper. "Our smaller but equally important goals are to improve teacher instruction, narrow the achievement gap, and continue with the great work [retired EHS principal] Bill Sonneman left us." Currently, Cooper's pet project is providing entertainment in the school's cafeteria and helping EHS hold a benefit fundraiser for the Alameda Food Bank. "[The students are] not greedy but the public thinks kids think of nothing but themselves; I feel people should see that Encinal kids care about their world and community."

Wood Middle School's newest addition, Principal Gilbert Cho, a native of the Bay Area, is looking forward to creating structure at Wood after so many principals. "I intend to make solid procedures for the teachers, students and staff so that everyone can follow them consistently," he said. "I want everyone to feel a great joy in learning and being at Wood."

Cho worked in Walnut Creek, Lafayette and the San Francisco Unified School District before coming to Alameda. His main goals include putting teachers' priorities first, especially after the budget cuts, and focusing on spending money as cost-efficiently as he can, not by concentrating on individual needs, but by meeting teachers' needs as a whole. Cho also shared a potential change in tradition. "Something I'm excited about this year is holding the eighth grade promotion at Thompson Field or the Encinal field. I know it is traditionally held at Kofman Auditorium, but it would be great to pass them off into high school, literally and figuratively."

Ramos

Otis Elementary School's Shirley Clem is thrilled to be their new principal. "I am excited to be getting back in the classrooms and working with the kids, and it's just made my whole year," Clem said. Clem began working in Alameda 12 years ago and had her first administrative role as vice principal at Earhart Elementary.

With budget cuts, she lost her admin role at Earhart, and worked in the district office teacher programs. However, when she expressed interest in coming back fulltime at school, she received the opportunity to work at Otis. "It's just an amazing school already with wonderful kids, strong test scores, and so much community involvement," she said.

"My goal this year is to create strong programs and learning groups. I also want more teachers getting the resources they need to service the kids and have something for everyone," said Clem. Budget cuts have included cuts to the DARE (Drugs Alcohol Resistance Education) Program. "The changes have been subtle but they are there. We just have to be careful where we are spending our money, especially when our resources are dwindling. We have to make sure everything is going to the kids," said Clem.

Other new administrative faces in the district are Jesse Ramos, principal at Washington Elementary School, and two new vice principals at EHS: Eric Kapral and Ayo Akatugba.

Anjuli Sastry is an Alameda Sun intern.