Meet the New Principal: Castle Elementary’s Allie Storti

Allie Storti started July 27 as new principal. Oakdale Patch editor Patty Busse sat down with Storti to find out about her background and plans for the school.

Oakdale Patch: Tell me about your experience.

Allie Storti: I started teaching in Wayzata 13 years ago and I taught second grade and third grade. That was nine years, and then the next few years I was a coach, so I observed, evaluated and coached teachers using the same framework that principals do. I also did professional development, trainings for teachers in the district on cultural competency.

Oakdale Patch: Did you always know that you wanted to become a principal?

Storti: It’s funny because my mom and dad were both principals, so they talked about it at the dinner table day in and day out. They were in the same district in Roseville. So I vowed that I would never do this job. It was kind of that defiant part of me. I taught and I absolutely loved it, and I thought I’m just going to apply for this evaluative coaching job. And when I got the position, I went, “Do I really want to leave kids, is this what I want to do?” I did that for three years and thought, “I like this but it’s not as fulfilling.” I only worked with teachers. I was able to observe and evaluate, but I couldn’t do anything with that information and as an administrator, we really have the ability to empower leaders and empower people to share their gifts and support growth and I strongly believe in that. That really was the tipping point for me.

Oakdale Patch: So this is your first principal job?

Storti: Yes, so it’s very exciting.

Oakdale Patch: What drew you to elementary school versus other levels?

Storti: I’ve always loved little kids. As an 8-year-old I was always sort of the teacher to the young ones and when we played school I was always passionate about that and I taught swimming lessons when I was younger. It was just like from the first moment I can remember I always wanted to work with kids. I think with the little ones you see so much growth, and that’s really powerful, whether it’s reading, writing, math, behavior, maturity and they’re these little people who haven’t really been scarred by the hardships of life yet for the most part, and they’re so pure and real. It’s just a little authentic piece of heaven in a sense. If your hair looks horrible, they’ll say, “What happened to your hair? I don’t like that shirt.”

Oakdale Patch: What are your perceptions of Castle and do you see at this point any changes that you’ll make?

Storti: This is a community school, and I see a strong sense of community and I see an opportunity to strengthen that even more as a whole school and as a community outside of it. There’s a lot of aspects of it that are community-oriented and I also see an opportunity to really bond us together. Some things that I would like to do to connect communities is do a fun run, or I know there are some great activities like the Castle Carnival or the fall harvest dance, and keep some of those activities going with an additional maybe one or two activities. Maybe get the community even more involved in the school. There’s a lot of people here committed to doing the best they can for kids.

Oakdale Patch: What do you think of the district as a whole?

Storti: I came from a place where the scores were 95 percent and above and there was a lot of money there so that was my only experience and I was wondering, “What is it going to be like going to a district that has different dynamics?” I was so impressed by the rigorous interview process—the commitment to finding people. They’re all about doing whatever they can to be as excellent as possible.

Oakdale Patch: Are there certain testing areas that you’re going to focus on?

Storti: Our biggest focus will be on literacy—reading—and creating opportunities for students to be actively engaged and dialogue around reading too.

Oakdale Patch: Are your parents still principals, or are they retired?

Storti: My mom retired, she was an assistant principal at Roseville High School for her last position. My dad is the executive director for MESPA, it's the elementary principal's association for the state of Minnesota, so his role is to provide staff development opportunities for principals, support them, he works with all elementary principals in the state, so that's kind of fun. I've learned a lot from him.

Oakdale Patch: What did your parents say when you told them you were thinking about doing this?

Storti: They were ecstatic, because all these years they were encouraging me to do it, and I just wasn't at the point where I was ready to take that step. It was so cute, because the first thing my dad did when I got this job was he sent me all the membership information for MESPA and I filled it out and his colleague put it on his desk with a huge smile on the envelope.

Oakdale Patch: Is there anything else that you want to mention?

Storti: I realy want to get the message out that this school is a great place and its sort of had its ups and downs, but I really want the community to get that idea that Castle is a welcoming community-focused, focused-on-student-learning place to be.