The first thing incoming Gilroy High School Principal Marco
Sanchez did when he moved into his new office was open the blinds
separating him from the front office and prop open his door.
The first thing incoming Gilroy High School Principal Marco Sanchez did when he moved into his new office was open the blinds separating him from the front office and prop open his door.
“Visible” and “accessible” describe the easygoing, quick-to-smile principal’s administrative style. Not one to hole himself up in his office, Sanchez has already met dozens of students, teachers and fellow administrators.
“I got a very warm welcome into the district,” said Sanchez, 39. “I’m really impressed with the staff and students I’ve met so far.”
Sanchez moved into his office Tuesday morning amid a flurry of activity as juniors and seniors picked up their class schedules and took photos for new student identification cards bearing the emblem of the California Distinguished School award. With a master schedule to design, teachers to hire and students to meet, Sanchez hit the ground running July 1. Since then, he’s hired nine new math, social studies and physical education teachers and added more English and math intervention classes to the school day.
“Students are coming with more diverse needs and we have to provide the resources to support that,” said Sanchez, a former junior high intervention teacher.
In his first year, Sanchez will focus on character, academics and readying students for college and a career, he said. Other than adding more intervention classes, Sanchez said he was already impressed by GHS’s extensive and unique vocational education course offerings, including the beginnings of a biotech academy.
Although he identified many strengths at the school, including a strong tradition of academic and athletic excellence, Sanchez hopes to boost the number of students heading to four-year universities.
“We want to produce students who are ready for a college, career and then the workforce, students that are creative, dynamic thinkers, good communicators, articulate speakers with the type of skills to succeed in the 21st century,” Sanchez said.
Confident Sanchez will take GHS to the next level academically, Superintendent Deborah Flores said the new principal’s performance in his first month on the job confirmed her first impressions.
“He’s extremely bright, a quick learner and he’s mastered the master schedule, which is no easy task,” Flores said.
The color-coded puzzle of course offerings and the teachers who will instruct them hangs on the conference room wall at GHS, a far cry from the blank slate Sanchez encountered when he first showed up. With the help of former principal James Maxwell, Sanchez worked for three weeks to mold the school day. Other than a few last-minute scheduling issues, almost every student at GHS should have a schedule in hand and be ready to head to first period at 8 a.m. Thursday. Although Sanchez doesn’t have any activities planned for the first day of school – “our priority is getting kids to class” – a rally is planned for September.
Particularly impressed by Sanchez’s ability to analyze student achievement data and display it in “a way a lay person would understand,” Flores said Sanchez is already looking at GHS’s data.
“You would normally see these kinds of charts from a director of assessment,” Flores said.
Sanchez brings his family to Gilroy from Lodi, where he was principal of Lodi Middle School. Sanchez, his wife – a physical education teacher at the T.J. Owens Gilroy Early College Academy – and his 6-year-old son – who will likely attend El Roble Elementary – found a home not too far from GHS on Miller Avenue.
With a doctoral degree in organizational leadership from Northcentral University and an Olympic wrestling career under his belt, academics and athletics – or other extracurricular activities – go hand in hand, Sanchez said. If not for the urging of his coaches and teachers, Sanchez – the first in his family to graduate from high school – wouldn’t have considered college, he said.
Several posters displaying Sanchez’s illustrious collegiate wrestling career lay on a side table in his office waiting to be hung. For his first month with the district, Sanchez shared an office in the library conference room with Christopher High School Principal John Perales while CHS neared completion and contractors wrapped up an overhaul of GHS’s heating and air conditioning system. The two will share choir, band, yearbook and digital design teachers in the coming year and worked closely together to hammer out schedules that meshed. In the meantime, they developed a strong relationship, Flores said.
“I’m looking forward to a healthy, robust rivalry with CHS,” Sanchez said, the large red stone set in his All-American Pac-10 championship ring glinting in the sunlight. “I don’t want things to get ugly.”
Neatly dressed in a polo shirt and jeans, Sanchez waved goodbye to his staff Tuesday as they headed home for the evening and thanked them for their work. Before heading home himself, he hit “send” on an e-mail to his staff and district administrators, commending them on a job well done and thanking them for keeping things running smoothly in the days leading up to school.
“I’ve already had so many people approach me to tell me I made the right decision,” Flores said. “That’s nice to hear so early in his tenure.”
Q:
How would you describe your leadership style? For example, do you like to drop in on classrooms? Walk around campus during lunch? Attend school wrestling matches, perhaps?
A:
My style of leadership is relationally orientated and results-driven. I really enjoy interacting with people, learning about them and and their backgrounds. I often find that we all have a lot in common. I really like to see to see organizations grow and respond to the challenges of the 21st century. I believe in shared leadership involving members of the school community. I enjoy all sports and I plan on attending as many sports, clubs, plays and community activities as my schedule allows.
Q:
What are your top three priorities to address in your first year at Gilroy High School?
A:
Connecting with and getting to know all staff members and learning the school culture, identifying strengths in the program that have resulted in (the school’s) California Distinguished School status, and, with the help of the staff, identifying areas of growth and working to improve them. State testing results, attendance and graduations rates are vital signs of student success, as is a safe clean environment with programmatic offerings to meet the needs of all learners through high-quality standards-based instruction.
Q:
Obviously parent involvement is a key component in the success of a student at any age. How do you plan to engage with the parents of GHS students?
A:
We have Back to School Night for starters. I would love to see GHS packed with parents getting an opportunity to learn about the academic programs at GHS along with the extra-curricular/athletic/visual and performing arts/vocational training. Parent participation in the (English Learners Advisory Committee) and school site council is extremely important. The GHS parent and booster clubs have been very vital to school’s success.
Q:
Christopher High School isn’t even open and already some members of the community predict a rivalry. What would you like to see the relationship between CHS and GHS develop into?
A:
Respectful, collegial, and collaborative. I have met many of the Christopher High School staff and I have been very impressed with quality of leadership at all levels. CHS is going to be a great school. Many of the staff members have close ties to GHS and I would encourage collaboration at all levels – students, parents and staff.
Q:
In your opinion, what are GHS’s top three strengths? Weaknesses?
A:
The great staff and students, and the strong tradition of academic and athletic excellence. We are going to have to roll up our sleeves and work on closing the achievement gap in all subject areas, increase college acceptance rates at four-year universities, and prepare our students to enter a competitive work force in a tough economy. Supporting students’ transition from middle school sinto high school is key, and the superintendent and school board have been very supportive.
Q:
Other than being an Olympic athlete, what’s another unusual hobby or character trait or that most people might not know about you right away?
A:
I love seeing people succeed and grow to reach their potential. I also love spending as much time as possible with my beautiful wife, Colleen, and family. The community of Gilroy has been very receptive and friendly I have enjoyed my first month thoroughly.
