Starting this school year, Kate Jackson has been one of our three assistant principles. Unlike the other two though, this is not only her first year as a VP here, but her first time as an assistant principal ever. In addition to this, Jackson has never worked in the Bonita district before. Meaning that not only is she new to the position, she is working in an entirely new world. A place with different rules, different people, different campuses, and now it’s her job to help manage it.
This doesn’t make her unqualified of course, far from it. Before taking this job, Jackson worked in the Corona-Norco Unified School District. Though she did start off as an English teacher, her main job, and easily the highlight of her career (until now), was working and supporting teachers with literacy. “I would run professional development trainings. I would be in classrooms coaching, I designed curriculum and I designed district wide assessments,” Jackson said, describing her role at CNUSD. “I also spent a lot of time working with English learners and providing teachers ways of supporting students who are developing not only their academics, but their English proficiency.”
Working and managing teachers and students had been her area of expertise in her old district, and she had worked there for 17-18 years. She was a professional, one of the best in her field. After working in Corona-Norco for almost 20 years, she knew everything about her job and how to do it well. So why change? Why come here, changing positions and locations?
Well for Kate Jackson, it’s about the kids. “Being an assistant principal, I get to see kids everyday,” said Jackson. “I actually do love young people; it’s what motivates me.” To have a job that works so closely to the people important in her heart, is what makes this job different from her last. Before, the work she was doing was for the kids; teaching them, being in classes with them, but it was also about the teachers, and making sure they knew what they were doing. Now, her job is protecting the kids, still working for them, but this time Jackson gets to focus on her favorite part every single day.
Jackson is no stranger to hard work or people, in fact, that is why she came here in the first place. Her love for the students and eagerness to work and cooperate with staff made her a practically perfect candidate for the job. It will be obvious that she would do well before she got the job, but now she has to prove that she will continue to do well as San Dimas’s Assistant Principal now, and after. So far, it seems so.
