Gilroy High’s Jim Maxwell settles into environment and looks to
increase test scores
Gilroy – Every once in a while Jim Maxwell reminisces about his days at Castro Valley High School, sometimes mentioning that they did things differently over there, but the Gilroy High School principal is quickly put in his place and told to embrace the blue and gold.
“He sometimes misses his old school, but we remind him he’s at Gilroy High School,” said GHS Office Coordinator Janie Gillespie.
Despite the occasional Castro call-back, as Maxwell leaned back in his armchair, decked out in his Friday casual wear, it appeared that the longtime educator has settled in quite comfortably at his new school.
Six months ago the 53-year-old not only left behind his position as associate principal at Castro Valley to take over as GHS principal, but the commitment also meant leaving behind his wife and two young children. With his family still living in Castro Valley, Maxwell spent his weekdays at his sister’s in San Jose and drove home on the weekends.
For a principal, who spends many evenings at sporting events or meetings, that translated to many hours on the road. But Maxwell recently rented a local home and he and his family plan to move into next month. His two children may attend Luigi Aprea Elementary School, “if there’s room,” he says with a laugh referring to the school’s impacted enrollment, or since he and his wife are practicing Catholics they may go the parochial route, he said.
But living situations aside, Maxwell said his transition to GHS has been a smooth one. He’s particularly pumped about the prospect of bringing the Early College High School Initiative to the Gilroy Unified School District.
“I’m really excited about that,” he said.
If approved by the GUSD board, local middle school students would have the opportunity to attend high school at Gavilan College instead of GHS.
The program, which was offered at San Mateo Union High School where the principal was once employed, is in keeping with Maxwell’s goal of sending more kids to college since its focus is to nab sharp, underperforming teens who aren’t likely to further their education.
Early College High School programs are mainly comprised of at-risk, minorities, who aren’t interested in the social environment of the traditional high school, he said.
As do all educators, the GHS boss wants to see standardized test scores improve and the number of college-going students increase.
“The biggest and most public challenge is how to continue to raise test scores,” he said.
Improving test scores is an ongoing effort and to do so parents, students, educators and adminstrators all have to work as a unit.
Recruiting has and will always be an issue. In the fall GHS advertised for a position in biology or Spanish and ended up hiring a teacher with a double credential in both. But at the time they needed her in the Spanish department, so they had to place a long-term substitute in the biology class in the meantime.
The vacancy was recently filled by a qualified teacher. But Maxwell expects to face hiring issues in the future since Gilroy is nearby higher paying districts.
“What we have to do in the long-run is go for people in the area,” he said.
Also, Maxwell is dealing with the California High School Exit Exam, as are principals across the state. Seniors who don’t pass the exam will not receive their high school diploma.
GUSD Board President Pat Midtgaard, said the CAHSEE is one of the areas where she knows that Maxwell’s experience in education has helped.
“He has a depth of experience which I think is helping him at this point because the CAHSEE is critical,” she said. “He’s brought very clear data (to the board) regarding which students are having difficulty passing the CAHSEE and gone into detail about what’s helping those students. He just has experience that he can refer to whenever he’s looking at data,” she said.
Midtgaard said there are many challenges in the GHS forecast, such as changing the bell schedule, but she thinks Maxwell will fare just fine.
“So far I think that he’s making some decisions and making some changes that are needed at the high school,” she said.
