Barbara Keesaw most recently served as a principal in Santa
Cruz
Gilroy – While most educators prefer to stick to either the primary or secondary levels, Barbara Keesaw’s career has consisted of stints in elementary, middle and high school.
She’s also worked in various district offices, in the special education, English language learner and gifted and talented sectors.
“What I really wanted to do is I wanted to get as broad of an educational experience as I could before I (moved) into the principalship,” she said.
And now Keesaw, who most recently served as a middle school principal in Santa Cruz’s Live Oak District, is the new principal at Rucker Elementary School.
Keesaw replaced Stephen Gilbert who retired in June.
“Barbara (Keesaw) has already established a strong relationship with her staff and demonstrated her ability to improve the performance of all students in her previous leadership roles,” said Superintendent Edwin Diaz in a written statement.
While the new principal said she enjoys working with every grade level, directing the elementary age is exciting because it means coming in at the front-end of a child’s education.
Keesaw, who actually applied for a job at Gilroy High School about 10 years ago, heard about the Rucker opening through a local district official. She applied for the position, nailed it and is planning on trading her place in Santa Cruz for Gilroy in the near future.
As Keesaw escorted students to waiting vehicles on the east side of the rural school, she stressed that staffers must remembers what’s important: the kids and their safety. That’s why a revamped traffic routine was one of the first changes made under her thumb.
When Keesaw met with teachers, they all complained about the safety hazards caused by the unorganized, congested drop-offs and pick-ups. So at the end of the first day of school, teachers stood on all sides of the school and let parents know that Rucker had decided to institute a new routine.
Now parents are asked to drive around to the eastside turn-around, wait in their vehicles in single file and pick-up their children one-by-one. Although some kinks still need to be worked out, parents are adjusting to the change well, Keesaw said.
The principal added that that time at the end of the day is a great way to meet and greet parents.
Keesaw also stressed that ensuring that her school’s staff is a corroborative front is a priority and the traffic adjustment is one example of that collaboration. Teachers told her about a problem and they worked out a solution together.
That she’s taking over a school that just entered into Program Improvement for not meeting federal requirements doesn’t faze the new principal.
“At Rucker we don’t have problems, we have challenges,” she said.
To ensure the school exits PI next year, Keesaw said “we’re going to do what we’ve been doing better.”
For Rucker, which failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress because the English language learner group didn’t meet the proficiency requirement, that means beefing up the language arts program. The school is currently putting together a plan to devote 30 minutes a day specifically to English.
The instruction will be different for all levels, meaning students who struggle with English will work on those skills, while more advanced students will study their area of need.
“It’s really important for us that all of our kids are challenged and have a rigorous education,” Keesaw said.
Velia Codiga was literacy facilitator at ADB school before her recent promotion to principal
Gilroy – Velia Codiga may feel like little has changed since she slipped into her new position, but the students roaming the Antonio Del Buono Elementary School campus definitely noticed the shift.
When the Gilroy native stepped onto the sun-filled playground this week, little children swarmed around her asking questions and greeting her with “Hi, Mrs. Codiga.” One tiny girl wearing wire rim glasses asked “Are you the new principal?”
And a fair, red-headed boy, shielded from the warm day under a baseball hat and glasses, showed off his extremely loose tooth. But Codiga, who spent the past couple of weeks as interim principal and three years filling in whenever the boss was absent, said the only significant changes are her surroundings – she’s in the midst of moving into the chief’s office, and now she’s in charge of teacher evaluations.
And, of course, the new title.
Tammy Gabel, principal since 2004, resigned in August after landing an administrative position in a school district in Northern California’s gold country. Codiga bridged the two week gap while the district searched for a replacement.
“Specifically, Codiga has collaborated in a very innovative and exciting approach to raise student achievement at Del Buono and we feel fortunate to appoint her to lead a school where she already has strong relationships and can continue these outstanding improvements,” said Superintendent Edwin Diaz in a written statement.
Sitting at a table adorned with congratulatory flowers, in her new office of half-emptied boxes, Codiga explained that although she has some background in the field this is a her first official principalship. She spent the last three years as the ADB principal alternate and literacy facilitator and was in charge of the South Valley Middle School summer program last year.
Taking over the helm of a school that’s already sitting in quite a comfy spot in terms of standardized tests is a plus for a new principal, but Codiga wants to make sure upward trend endures.
“Our API (Academic Performance Index) scores have just skyrocketed and we want to continue to work (to improve),” she said.
Since what they’ve been doing is clearly working – the school increased its API by 21 points shooting up to 778, nearly reaching the statewide target of 800 – Codiga doesn’t plan to make any changes. Instead, she wants to refine what’s already in place.
Some of the areas she plans to focus on include the gifted and talented and after school programs. Codiga wants to see the afterschool program, currently they offer violin and performance arts, expanded and more targeted, individualized instruction in English language development.
As a literacy facilitator – she served in the same capacity at Las Animas Elementary and the now-defunct San Ysidro School – Codiga coached and mentored teacher. She knows that her extensive background in curriculum will help her be a better principal.
The Gilroyan and mother of one said she’s excited to begin her new career at a school with such a strong foundation, set by previous and current administrators and teachers. In addition, the school has strong parent support and everyone has high expectations.
“There’s no excuses here, children will learn,” she said.
