Principal’s Job Is to Attract Students to Magnet School

School officials ended a debate over ethnic balance and attendance boundaries earlier this year by designating the new Walnut Canyon elementary campus a magnet school that will use innovative programs to draw students from across the city.

Now comes the tough part: getting those innovative programs off the ground. In large part, the work falls to Teresa Williams, the school’s new principal.

“I see it as an adventure,” Williams said, “because we can try different teachers, and parents can work to develop a program to suit our students whoever they happen to be.”

Williams, 46, left her six-year position as principal of Flory School earlier this month to begin tackling a range of tasks at the Casey Road campus, which opens in the fall: everything from choosing new teachers to plotting out the new school’s curriculum and after-school program, the first in the district.

She plans to hold meetings with parents and teachers during the first school year to shape the campus’ long-term goals. But Williams and district officials already plan to focus Walnut Canyon’s programs on the performing arts and use of the latest technology.

They even have a model in mind: Dr. Juliet Thorner School, a Bakersfield magnet campus that focuses on the performing arts. The school posts the highest standardized test scores in the Bakersfield school district.

“I believe that research kind of bears out that students who have developed other aspects of their intellect--meaning the performing arts, dance, music and those kinds of activities--not only make more well-rounded students, but it also enhances their self-esteem,” said Frank DePasquale, Moorpark assistant superintendent.

The district expects a brochure on Walnut Canyon School to be ready for distribution during the third week of April. Around that time, Williams will head a series of public meetings to inform parents about the school’s curriculum and programs.

Walnut Canyon’s core curriculum will be the same as that at other schools, but Williams wants to add an emphasis on the performing arts, with computer technology to be incorporated into many classroom projects.

For example, teachers may have students design posters to learn about computer graphics, she said. Williams is even toying with the idea of creating a daily news broadcast to be aired in-house by students.

“There are many children that learn through the medium of performing arts,” Williams said.

Once the regular school day is over around 2 p.m., the school will be the first in the district to hold after-school programs. Williams said she wants to see a high-energy three-hour program with happy kids exploring their talents in such performing arts as dance, gymnastics and crafts.

Williams is known as a risk-taker and is highly visible in the town not only as a principal but also as a former Moorpark Rotary Club president and a director of the Boys & Girls Club of Moorpark, DePasquale said.

“We want somebody who has that wide range of ability in leadership,” DePasquale said. “She wanted a challenge and we gave her a challenge and she’s stepping up to the plate.”

Williams earned a bachelor’s degree in English from UCLA, teaching credentials from Cal State Northridge and a master’s degree in educational administration from Cal Lutheran University. She was a bilingual teacher at Flory for 13 years before she became the school’s principal.

As head of the new school, Williams is searching for teachers within the district who are willing to be adventurous.

“I’m looking for teachers willing to team teach . . . those that have an interest in performing arts and technology,” she said.

By team teaching, Williams means that teachers with expertise in such fields as music, art or technology will work together to help students.

She anticipates hiring about 16 teachers for the core classes, but said she does not know how many instructors will be hired for the after-school programs. The district has not yet determined what the cost will be for students to attend after school, with subsidies available to lower-income families.