Hey everybody, Jeff Maher with Elizabeth School District and we are at the start of the school year. It's a very exciting time and as you may remember last year I went around talking to a lot of our principles and assistant principles and it's an opportunity to get to know them
especially some of the new faces that we have at the school district. One of them is Pauline Elagandi and she is the principal here at Running Creek Elementary. Pauline, thank you for joining us. >> Thank you Jeff. I appreciate it >> and welcome to the team. >> Thank you. I'm happy to be here.
>> So, we're in the first week of school. School began on Monday. It was great to see the kids here at Running Creek. And I know that you're here and getting adjusted to the flow of everything and getting to know the kids and the staff.
How has it been so far? >> It has been amazing. Um the staff uh from the day they moment they came in, they were on board, ready for the new year to begin. happy personalities and we are just on our way lots of professional development training to get prepared for this year and they have
been on board since day one and it's been a great experience with all of them students came in uh last week for assessments and we had our meet and greet last uh Wednesday evening that was a huge success we had a great turnout with families that came out got to meet the teachers got to meet myself and come
see all the things that we've done to the building over the summer um we did a whole deep clean and it was fantastic the building looks amazing And I do have to give a shout out to Miss Shelby and her team, Joey and Scotty, for getting this building prepared and our teachers taking the time to get themselves
prepared. And now the students walked in Monday morning and we were ready to kick off the year. >> Took a lot of work and I I I know that there was a real difference for me in in coming here and seeing just how hard that team worked to get the school ready. So that was great to see.
>> It was wonderful. I was so proud of them. It was it was a lot of work this summer, but it was well worth it. Yeah. So, getting to know you a little bit more and and about your background in education. How many years have you been an educator and how did you become a principal? >> I've been in education for uh about 20
this is my 20th year in education. I started off as a parent volunteer. I am a mom of six and I started off uh my children at the time went to a rural school not too far from here and so it was really great to be in mom mode and then at the time I was actually in business and being a stay-at-home mom at
the same time. So I had a few teachers who took me out to dinner and convinced me to, you know, join education. And at first I thought I don't have the patience for that, but I was wrong. I do. And uh but as my six-pack has grown older because my six children are now adults and I am a grandma of nine. So
with that being said, um it took time and I realized very early on what a relationship I could build in a classroom. And I thought I can take this same mentality and create this same culture and bring it to an entire school. And so my aspirations of
becoming a principal became into fruition. Went back to college, things like that. And really enjoyed it. And I did take uh some time, you know, to kind of grow myself as a leader before I stepped into this role. And >> originally I was like, no, I don't know
if I'm ready. But then this opportunity at Elizabeth presented itself and I could not pass it up. So, I really wanted to give my absolute all to Running Creek and I felt for the first time as a first year principal that I was ready to take on this role. >> And were you familiar with Elizabeth School District prior to coming here?
And I was. >> What were your first impressions of of Running Creek Elementary? >> Well, as I said, I am a mom of six and my children played sports. So, our school played against Elizabeth, Ka, Elbert, Simla, Calhan, all of those schools. So, it was really great to already be a mixed with the community.
I've been part of Colorado for well over 30 years and so that's showing my age. Um I really enjoy Colorado. I love it. I'm originally from the northern suburbs of Detroit. Um I was brought here u many years ago when the army was stationed at Fort Carson and just decided with my
family I wanted to raise my family in Colorado. So we with that being said yes I was very familiar with Elizabeth. I thought it was a beautiful area and um and I thought, you know what, this is the perfect place to begin my career as a principal. >> So, prior to being a principal, you were
a teacher. >> I was an assistant principal prior to this and a dean of students before that. So, I worked my way up. I started as a classroom teacher, went to an instructional coach, a dean, uh assistant principal, and now principal >> and six kids. That must have been a real busy household before they grew up.
>> They they are amazing. Actually, they keep me busier now as adults than they do when they weren't children. And they need me more now as adults than they did when they were children. But they are amazing crew. I I raise literally six best friends and four of them are now married and all their, you know, my daughter-in-law and my son-in-laws are
all really close together and, you know, all nine grandkids are very close as well. So, we're just a very tight-knit family. And I I absolutely adore that. I'm very honored to be a mom of such six amazing individuals. Well, it's so great that you're here at Running Creek and I
I know that you joined at a time when the school district is pushing some pretty big initiatives, especially as it relates to improving reading scores because that is an issue really statewide. >> Yes. >> And there's an initiative going on at
each school's site of how to better implement that and other academics. And so, >> correct. How did you look at that problem and bring some of your own ideas to the table of what to do here? >> Well, in all my history in in schools that I have worked in, direct explicit
instruction has been a norm using the CKLA for reading. Out of the 20 years, 16 of the years that I've been teaching and working in an administration, we have used core knowledge in the reading. So, I see the growth in what it can do for school. So, having that background
already gave me a huge advantage. Also with the reading and the science, it's really going to be is teaching it with fidelity. Direct explicit instruction requires a lot more time of teacher attention. It's bell-to-bell teaching. So when the students walk in and this is
why classroom interruptions have to be done so delicately and we have to be very careful that when we walk into a classroom, we're not interrupting um a teacher because I don't know if you've ever been in a classroom when a teacher is giving directions and we interrupt.
that can shift the flow. So creating that relationship with the teacher and the their students, we don't want to interrupt, but direct instruction is contentrich and that is so important that each teacher and I think it's great that we're doing this districtwide, not
school-based. And I think that way when students when they go from Running Creek onto the middle school onto the high school, we're all using the same terminology. we're all having the same type of schedule and from bell-to-bell instruction is going to be imperative with the direct instruction.
>> And do you feel pretty good about that direction here at the school? And I >> I know it's too early to even really tell if some of it has been effective, but we're going to continue to follow up on that throughout the school year. >> Yeah, our teachers so far have jumped right in right with between the champs
and with the direct instruction and all the tools that we have given them. still with the profile with the graduate with the champs. It's another few tools that we've added to their toolbox and our teachers have just jumped right in. We did implement schoolwide expectations
and our teachers and staff members have been amazing uh at bringing all them into fruition and I'm so impressed with no matter which class I go into. I it's it's just fantastic. So that way these students are getting all of it at once. And I'm really impressed at how all of
as a team how everybody has just stepped up and said this is the new norm. This is what we're going to be using moving forward. So that way when our students do move on to the middle school, when they get to the middle school, they're going to be prepared. >> Right. And I know you did want to talk about the team emphasis here at the
school because it's not just about one person collectively. It's a team that >> brings the success every everyone from those who are cleaning the floors and and taking out the trash and feeding the students to the ones that are teaching. >> And so you feel really good about the
team that you have here in place. >> Absolutely. And the way we work together, once again, we're not working with titles. We are working as a team because at the end of the day, our goals are for the academic success for the educational careers of our students. every Running Creek Jaguar, we are
holding them accountable as well. And so I set myself to a standard. My teachers, I held them to a standard, but I love to see that they're matching what I even hold to myself. So I need to lead by example, but also my teachers are leaders, our students are leaders, and
the same with our parents as well. Our parents are leaders. So collectively as a team, we have to work together for what's better for our students to make sure that they're successful. And the last thing I wanted to ask you was just about passion because when you
talk to people in education, they're not in it for the money. It really is a passion to see students grow, whether you're at preschool, elementary, middle school, high school, and seeing them advance. So, at the core of what you do, >> how would you best describe your passion
for being a principal and being here at Running Creek? Well, I know I wake up every day loving my job and loving coming to work. And I love that when I see teachers skipping and singing down the hallway, I'm bringing the love of their career back.
>> What? Because we all got in it for something. We all started somewhere or along the ways. My original career was not I was an army soldier. So going from soldier to mom to now, you know, into education, it was different. But it is about the passion and that passion grows
and every year and every day that I wake up, I'm coming to a place I love and I adore and I'm going to pass that passion on. But it's when I can pass it on to my team and my team shares the passion. The students share the passion and when they get to go home and they tell their
parents what a great day that they've had and yes, it was challenging. Yes, it was hard work. But at the end of the day, they're taking ownership of their educational career because we are just a snapshot of their life, >> right? >> And we are we're the beginning of that educational career. So if we share our
passions with them and we help them strive to be successful, then we're doing our jobs. So that's why my passion has to be shared because if I can't lead by example, then I I'm going to fail my team and I do not want to fail my team. So, I'm going to entrust my team and
we're going to keep working forward. >> Well, we're great to have you here at Running Creek Elementary and School District. >> I am truly honored to be here. >> Yeah. So, thanks for talking to us and letting the community get to know you a bit more. Of course, we'll continue to check in on you and the team and provide
updates from Running Creek Elementary throughout the school year. Thanks again. >> Well, thank you. I appreciate you. And be sure to follow us on social media and our website for more content like this, elizabethchooldist.org. And we will see you next time.