Three Principals on How Their Schools Bounced Back

Covid reshaped education. The pandemic led to years of virtual learning, which led to deep learning loss for many students. Even years after they’ve returned to in-person instruction, and billions of dollars of recovery funding later, many haven’t caught up.  

A new analysis by Voice of San Diego underscores that discouraging reality – only about 13 percent of San Diego County schools are outperforming where they were prior to the pandemic. 

The list of schools that bucked the trend is a mixed bag: relatively high-performing and low-performing schools, very diverse schools and ones that are less so, schools that made great strides in performance and ones that just barely outpaced where they were before the pandemic.  

Data points like this require further investigation, said Morgan Polikoff, a professor of education at the University of Southern California, who has done research on sluggish post-Covid recovery efforts. 

“I would say it leads to questions. Can we come up with explanations for why some schools seem to be recovering better than others?” Polikoff asked. “Is it the quality of teachers? Is it something that they did during Covid? It raises questions about what’s going on in those schools, or is it more just kind of random noise?” 

So, I contacted the principals of three schools that significantly outperformed where they were prior to the pandemic. Here’s what they credit for their gains. 

‘We Are Nimble’ 

East Village Middle College High, an atypical San Diego Unified high school where students take classes at local community colleges, saw a combined 40-percentage-point leap in the number of students meeting state English and math standards. Of the schools on the list, the high school made the biggest leap. 

Principal Mitch Booz, who took the helm about eight years ago, says a big part of the change came from rapid evolution. 

“Within three years, this school changed its name, changed its design, changed its schedule, changed its calendar, and brought on additional coursework that we felt would be more attentive to the needs of our students,” Booz said. “As a small site, we are nimble.” 

Booz said he encourages his teachers to err on the side of trying something new. That willingness to experiment has allowed the school to drastically expand its collaborations with San Diego City College, where the school is co-located. Each year, the school has a handful of students who graduate high school with a two-year community college degree as well. It also helps that unlike other much larger schools, reaching a consensus among staff about all the new experiments is much easier. 

But another key to the school’s success is its staff, Booz said. East Village has relatively low turnover and high stability – which for a school whose teachers often need a slew of credentials because they’re expected to teach multiple courses is a huge asset. Its unique structure also allows students access to not only a high school counselor, but a part-time community college counselor, meaning each student gets ample attention each and every semester.  

‘We Were Able to Be More Purposeful’ 

Dual Language Immersion North County, an English and Spanish immersion charter in Vista, saw a 33-percentage-point increase in the number of students meeting English and math standards. Principal Mallory Wirth said, unlike many other schools, the years after the pandemic were a period where the school actually gained its footing.  

The school went through a whole lot of changes in the years prior to the pandemic. For example, it separated from a larger organization and had to get reauthorized by the San Diego County Office of Education. Though she’d long felt she had strong, determined teachers, scores hadn’t been where she’d hoped. After those changes, she started to see big improvements. 

“I think it was like the first time we had enough financial stability and stability in terms of our authorization,” Wirth said. “We were able to be more purposeful.” 

Many of the interventions officials employed are textbook school-improvement strategies. The school relied more heavily on formative assessments to flag struggling students and offered them after-school interventions. They employed three credentialed reading specialists who offered after-school instruction and created a math intervention class. Officials also put an emphasis on improving student attendance, another research-backed strategy.  

Being a dual-language school, teachers faced an added challenge of teaching students two languages — only one of which the state tested students on. For half the day, students speak no English at all. Luckily, Wirth said, Dual Language Immersion benefited from a stable teaching force that was able to evolve the way they taught. Teachers began collaborating more closely and piggybacking on what each other were teaching and drawing parallels between the skills required to learn both languages. 

“It was the first time that they just constantly referred back to one another and made connections, and I then think that made a huge difference,” Wirth said. 

‘We Can Do Hard Things’ 

Hill Creek School in Santee School District was another one of the schools that made the biggest performance leaps. The school increased the percentage of students meeting English and math standards by 31 points, cumulatively. Principal Chasity Forster credited robust professional learning, data-driven decision making and an emphasis on community engagement. 

Forster created a program called WIN-time, or “what I need” time. During WIN-time, students switch classes and work on academic areas data showed they needed help with. Part of WIN-time is not only ensuring that kids know where they have room to improve, but also breaking down the stigma of struggling in certain subjects.  

“When I first started, we had a theme – ‘We can do hard things.’ So when the students came in to WIN-time that kind of took out that embarrassment,” Forster said. “Plus I think anytime [a student] can recognize what their targeted goal is and what they’re working for, they’re more likely to be successful.” 

Strategies like WIN-time went hand in hand with a larger cultural shift at the school, Forster said. After Covid, educators at Hill Creek worked hard to focus on the whole student, which meant paying attention to students’ social-emotional needs. Some kids were entering school post-Covid having never stepped foot in a classroom, so helping them acclimate to the reality of being a student was vital.  

“Anytime that you can get some good systems and routines in place for students, and they’re practiced with fidelity, you’re bound to see growth,” Forster said.