New Principal Ready For Challenge

Dana McDonald admits she has plenty of challenges to overcome at her new job as principal of Selby Lane Elementary School in Redwood City.

A majority of the young students in her school are still acquiring adequate English language communication skills, and nearly 75 percent of those enrolled at Selby Elementary are qualified to receive reduced-cost lunches due to coming from poor or low-income households.

But McDonald said she feels her experience before joining Selby Elementary has adequately prepared her to lead the school to success, and she is ready to take the take on the challenges of the job.

"I'm excited to be here," she said.

Prior to coming to Redwood City, McDonald worked in school districts in Colorado, Arizona and Oklahoma.

In all, she has 15 years of experience working in education, including her prior experience as a principal of an elementary in Aurora, Colo. that had similar population demographics to the population at Selby Elementary.

She said, in her prior experience, she was able to turn around the culture of a campus that was underachieving by rejuvenating the teachers through her high-energy style of leadership.

And at Selby Elementary, McDonald said she believes putting herself in the shoes of teachers can help her understand the obstacles they face, which breeds compassionate leadership.

But often, being in the shoes of teachers can be difficult - particularly in California, where state funding cuts to public schools have become the norm.

This has resulted in the school being forced to look to outside fundraising foundations to provide money for services such as physical education, and arts and music classes for students.

Budget struggles have also caused increased class sizes throughout the state, further burdening teachers.

The funding struggles in California public schools are more severe than anywhere else McDonald has worked before, she said.

But, despite the variety of challenges she faces, McDonald refuses to let it get her down.

"I don't see my job as frustrating," she said. "I see it more as an opportunity to think outside the box."

One example of the creative problem solving that McDonald suggested she may consider implementing at Selby Elementary is allowing teachers to specialize their classes, similar to what takes place in higher realms of education like high school or college.

She said that, eventually, students may rotate a class schedule, such as attending math and science with one teacher for the first half of the day and then English and history with another in the second half.

This would allow teachers to hone in on the subjects they are teaching, and narrow the scope of the lessons they teach students.

This philosophy is especially attractive to McDonald, in the context of teachers now having less time to prepare for more students than ever before, due to funding cuts.

And though this concept may not be implemented at Selby Elementary in the near future, McDonald said it may be necessary to approach issues in innovative ways in this new age of limited funding for education.

"My job is to provide high quality education, regardless of resources."

And, she said that she finds that same kind of optimism when meeting the members of her new education community.

McDonald has spent the months since her hire meeting parents, students and other involved groups in the greater Redwood City area, and she said she is impressed with the enthusiasm she has witnessed.

"Selby is a great outlet for the community," she said.