By Mary O’KEEFE

After 38 years in the field of education, Dr. Vivian Ekchian announced her retirement from the district on June 20 at the last Glendale Unified School District (GUSD) board meeting of the year.

Ekchian is a Glendale resident who took the reins as GUSD superintendent on July 1, 2019. She immediately began to reach out to students, staff and parents and created a district-wide open door policy. She brought with her over three decades of experience in education and it would be an understatement to say she made education her priority.

Prior to coming to GUSD, Dr. Ekchian was deputy superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, a district that serves over 600,000 pre-K through adult students. Throughout her career she has been a teacher’s assistant, classroom teacher, principal, director of instruction, chief of staff to the superintendent of schools, chief human resources officer, chief labor negotiator, local district superintendent, associate superintendent and interim superintendent.

Ekchian is the recipient of a Distinguished Educator Award from California State University, Los Angeles, and Women in Educational Leadership – Outstanding Contributions to Education Award. She was honored by LA City Councilmember Paul Krekorian for her dedicated service and immeasurable contributions to the Armenian community. In 2022 she was recognized as the 2022-23 Los Angeles County Superintendent of the Year.

Throughout her time at GUSD she reached out to all students including those who felt their voices may not have been heard or were marginalized.

“I think it is really important in education and any other setting to pursue your passion and my passion was to close the opportunity gap for students who were further from the center of the conversation,” Ekchian said in an interview with CVW. “Students who are [seen] the most are those who feel supported at the school site and know that school is a safe place for them to learn and to thrive.”

She added that to do this, the district needs to have that support as part of its infrastructure in order for all students to feel safe and that they belong and can achieve their goals.

Ekchian continued to work on achieving the infrastructure goal, which was made challenging when the pandemic hit and schools were closed, and then later when they reopened and students and staff wore face coverings.

“Our goal was always to have every student graduate and be college, career and life ready. Now I would say college, career and community ready,” she said. “The pandemic was a surprise. I was still in my first year as superintendent and required laser-like focus in making sure that every family and every student, even though they were learning from home, received the support they needed. We spent every dollar that was provided to us from state and federal levels on our students, and safety was our priority.”

During Ekchian’s leadership the district and her cabinet reached out to community partners, like hospitals, the YMCA and the City of Glendale, to make certain that COVID-related turnaround was quick. There was COVID testing five days a week on campuses for almost two years so students would not have to go with their families to search for testing sites, she added. The district had 38 vaccination clinics and a number of opportunities for students to receive food support. Forty seven percent of GUSD students receive free or reduced cost meals and one of the highest traffic areas for free meals was the Crescenta Valley.

GUSD school board meetings have become volatile lately, as reported in the media, both locally and nationally; however, Ekchian wants to keep the focus on students.

“We have to continue to focus on what’s best for kids and not be pulled into any adult agendas that may not align with the best interest of students,” she said.

Ekchian and other staff members have spoken and met with hundreds of parents over the years she has been at GUSD.

“I do think schools are the center of our community. Schools belong to our community and [I] have always had an open door policy,” she added. “I am proud of that fact.”

She is not yet certain what her retirement will look like but said her first priority is to make sure the transition to the interim superintendent will be done well.

At the last GUSD board meeting goals were approved for the next school year.

“I know I will be involved [in education], maybe from a different perspective but I will always be an advocate for Glendale children and families,” she said.

When asked what message she would like to leave with students she said, “I would like them to know they have a voice and they have agency. And schools belong to them so they need to be thoughtful and organized, to engage in civil discourse to continue to improve learning and teaching conditions.

“And I love them and everything I’ve done has been for them.”