By Dick Cowan–
David Levis is having a busy time this spring, making a transition from Principal for the District’s alternate high schools to San Juan.
David was principal of three high schools – El Sereno, La Entrada, and Meraki (formerly the UnSchool), which offer a variety of ways for students to design curriculums and attain their high school diploma. He officially takes over at San Juan July 1 but has already begun introducing himself and gathering the information that he needs for a strong start this August.
David is a local boy who graduated from El Camino Fundamental High School. He responded to our questions with energy and a calm confidence.
Why Education as a career?
Because I had such great teachers my entire school and college time and partly because my wife was a teacher herself. Truth be told, I thought law enforcement was for me, but a torn ACL during college years made that unlikely, so as I gave it some thought, education crystallized, and I am really glad. I loved history and had done some youth pastor work in my church, so teaching history at the high school level proved to be a fulfilling path.
Where did you go to school after El Camino?
I had planned to attend a private college in Washington state, but family circumstances dictated otherwise, and I did a semester and half at American River but interrupted that to join the Navy for two years to earn the GI bill. I learned a lot of life lessons in the Navy during Boot Camp and Radioman A School at Great Lakes, Illinois and made 3rd class petty officer in two years.
During that time I got married, so when I came back to Sacramento after the Navy, I needed to juggle continuing school with jobs at ARAMARK Laundry and Easy-Lift garage doors. I finished my associates degree and got my bachelor’s degree and teaching credential at CSU Sacramento in two and a half busy years.
And the teaching career?
I did student teaching at Will Rogers Junior High and Center High School. Center offered a contract right away teaching history and government. After two years, I got back into the San Juan district at Encina for 3 years and then San Juan High for 3 years. I earned a master’s degree and Administrative Credential during these years, so I was ready when offered the role as teacher, lead teacher, and Vice Principal back at Encina. I really enjoyed being a classroom teacher one period as well as a VP. I was a VP at El Camino for 2 years, and finally the principal job for the last 3 years at the Alternative Learning Center.
What a perfect background for San Juan High, do you think lessons learned from alternatives and from COVID will change our traditional schools in the future?
It’s already happening. Some of the students in the alternative high schools had come from Montessori style schools and thrived with the independence. Other students benefit from the structure of traditional schools. My own children like the freedom of alternative schools. My middle daughter is a sophomore and is running her own business making and selling products on Etsy, so the flexibility in her schedule is perfect. We do need to find a way to make the independent schools more accessible, so the distance learning we used during the COVID period will help both traditional and independent schools.
How are the teachers feeling about all this flexibility?
They are rising to the challenge. As with all teaching, they want to be sure that students have a way to demonstrate competency, so the teacher knows the learning was successful and can move on without leaving anyone behind. That is a challenge in traditional learning but can be very tough in distance learning or independent study learning. The good news is that students can try the different approaches and move from one school to another in our District to get the best fit.
Any message for the San Juan Alumni? Yes, your support for our kids is valued and appreciated. This next year will be more like a normal year, but be patient, COVID still haunts us, and there may be adjustments to access to the campus and school activities during the year. Keep your fingers crossed.
I have been thinking of some ways that alumni might help as we try to improve the transition from 8th grade to 9th grade. This is a tough transition, remember back to your own days as a freshman. What can we do as a community to ease that transition for the 160 new San Juan Spartans arriving this next August? Could there be a mentor or “big brother, big sister” role to check in to see if supplies are needed or just acknowledge a birthday or some early school?
Editor’s note: This article was originally published the San Juan Alumni Association’s July 2022 newsletter and was reprinted here with permission. David Levis replaced interim Principal Judy Billingsley.
