Barbara Farris: Taking the reins as principal of Lincoln Elementary School is former Toll Middle School assistant principal Barbara Farris.
By Mary O’KEEFE
New buildings are not the only changes that the Glendale Unified School District has in store for Crescenta Valley schools.
Lincoln Elementary School said farewell to Principal Stephen Williams who resigned at the end of the last school year. A send-off that included a taco bar and decorated cakes was held in his honor.
Replacing him is Barbara Farris. Farris has prepared her office and has already met with teachers, staff and some parents. She has also been walking the school campus, getting to know the layout and all the new classrooms.
“I am really excited about being back in elementary school,” Farris said.
Although this is her first job as a principal, she is returning to her roots.
“I used to teach at Bret Harte [Elementary] in Burbank,” she said. “I taught sixth grade.”
Her most recent job was assistant principal at Toll Middle School. The experience she gained from teaching the upper elementary grades and being at the middle school level helped create a philosophy in her approach to kids at Lincoln.
“There are [three] pieces of the puzzle,” she said of getting kids prepared to move on to middle school. “What they need to know academically, socially and emotionally.”
Former Lincoln Elementary Stephen Williams and his wife cut one of several cakes prepared for his going away party held in June.
She said she wants to make certain the kids are ready to move on without stress to the next level. She has worked in the past with Rosemont Middle School Principal Scott Anderle when he was at the district. She has already contacted him to arrange a future walk-through of Rosemont for her sixth graders.
“I want to take them to a [Rosemont] sporting event and I have asked Scott [Anderle] to come down and speak to my parents,” she said.
She added that she knows that promoting to middle school can be tough on parents as well and wants everyone to be informed.
As far as the staff at Lincoln, to say she loves them is an understatement.
“The staff is ridiculously talented,” she said. “I have never seen so many talented people in one [place]. It makes my job really easy.”
She is equally impressed with the parent support she has received so far.
“Parent support has been the top of the top,” she said. “They have already started their dine-out nights. They are really committed to the kids.”
The new building on the campus was completed last year and teachers are in their classrooms getting ready for this year’s students.
“I am an educator who loves education,” she said.
So she has already told her teachers she may be in the classroom from time to time to keep her teaching skills sharp.
As Farris begins her first year at Lincoln, Anderle is beginning his second year at Rosemont.
“We are ready to roll,” Anderle said.
He added he feels he is much more organized this year than last.
The school’s enrollment is down, with an expected student population of 1,200, which is down from an average of 1,300 to 1,400. There will be a change to the sports schedule with boys’ basketball and girls’ soccer in the fall and boys’ soccer and girls’ basketball in the spring.
“This way the boys will have the gym for the fall and girls for the spring,” Anderle said.
Having boys’ and girls’ basketball during the same season was difficult, with one or the other teams waiting sometimes until after 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. to get their time in the gym. This way the teams get the gym and the field dedicated to their sport.
There will also be a new digital arts multimedia class where students will learn and use Adobe Suite programs that include film editing. Anderle is hoping to get more computers to help advance the school’s technology classes and clubs, like last year’s coding class.
At Monte Vista Elementary School, there will be one less familiar face for returning students. GUSD educator Susan Mirau retired at the end of the last school year. For 23 years – her entire teaching career – Mirau was at Monte Vista Elementary School. Though she taught kindergarten and first grade, Mirau taught second grade for the majority of the time. She was involved in many district endeavors including Focus on Results and visual and performing arts as well as site committees and projects.
“She was a beloved teacher and students fondly remembered her ‘Friday afternoon talent show’ where they were able to perform anything from piano to taekwondo for their classmates,” recalled Principal Suzanne Risse.
Mirau said she plans to travel and meet up with friends and family in her retirement.
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