By Mary O’KEEFE

As students in the Glendale Unified School District (GUSD) head back to school this week, those attending Rosemont Middle, Crescenta Valley High and Valley View Elementary schools will be seeing a few changes on their campuses – not only with COVID compliance but also with new leaders.

Dr. Brook Reynolds is a familiar face on the campus of Valley View Elementary. After all, he’s been principal of the elementary school since 2015. But, like the school’s sixth graders, he is promoting to the next level – in his case to the position of executive director of elementary services at the GUSD. His primary job will be supporting and managing elementary school principals – a role that will allow him to continue to visit elementary schools within the district and seeing students.

“I view this opportunity as a transition from Valley View, not leaving Valley View,” Dr. Reynolds said. “I see this as an opportunity to support all schools ­– not leave one behind.”

During his time at Valley View, he had to navigate the uncertainty brought about by COVID-19 and was grateful for the team there.

“Everybody has different ways of dealing with the pandemic; there’s no right or wrong,” he said. “Everyone has in common the need for information and they want to be heard.”

To facilitate this, he continued having meetings to bring everyone up-to-date with the knowledge that he, as a principal, had to share.

“People felt they were part of the process,” he said. “Our goal was to communicate and provide the opportunity for everyone to be part of the conversation.”

Calling his time at Valley View “the greatest gig ever” he looks forward to the chance to visit all the school sites and seeing the students learning.

“I am excited at this new opportunity to put a lifetime of experience to work and make a difference for the leadership, staff, families and students at the 20 elementary schools, and the Glendale Unified School District,” he said. “One of my favorite things to do is encourage and support others to reach their potential. In my career, I have had the opportunity to be a principal mentor and have worked with new site administrators and APs as they started their careers.”

He will continue at Valley View until his replacement is in place.

Susanne Risse has been principal at Monte Vista Elementary since 2013. She felt it was time for a change – both for her and the school. When the opportunity to apply for the position as principal opened at Rosemont Middle School, she knew she wanted to do it. Having been chosen, she said she feels that the change is positive, although she loved her staff and students at Monte Vista.

Risse has been at GUSD since 1991, first as a Spanish bilingual teacher at Horace Mann Elementary School. She served as teacher specialist for Title VII Project SUCCESS in 1996 and was promoted to assistant principal of R.D. White Elementary School in 1999. In 2001, she was promoted to principal at R.D. White and then chosen as principal at Monte Vista. Risse received her bachelor’s degree in general humanities from Santa Clara University. She received her master’s degree in educational administration from the University of La Verne, according to GUSD.

“[Former Rosemont principal Dr. Scott] Anderle has always been a good colleague and a good man,” she said.

This school year Anderle transferred from Rosemont principal to return to teaching. He and Risse spoke over the years and she was excited about the opportunity to lead the middle school.

“I had not worked with this age group before,” she said.

She has already attended Howdy Days orientation for both seventh and eighth grade students.

“What I got from the kids was excitement,” she said.

She is sensitive to the concerns parents, teachers, staff and students have as they all head back to in-person learning after nearly two years of virtual learning. The concerns are not only for the students’ physical health but also their mental-emotional health.

Risse added that most staff and kids seem primed and ready for the next phase of returning to school.  

“My emphasis with staff is to [ask them] to give me some grace as I come into Rosemont and I will give [them] grace coming from the pandemic,” Risse said, “and we will all give kids grace as they come back.”

She added that people who know her would say she is approachable and she welcomes parents’ emails. She encourages parents and students to speak to her directly if they have concerns.

“We are at school to learn,” Risse said. “If you mess up and run down the hallway we will correct you – but kindness and respect are my number one [rules]. There is no reason for anyone to be unkind. I [want Rosemont] to be a safe place both physically and emotionally.”

Christine Benitez is a familiar face at Crescenta Valley High School. She has been associate principal at the school since 2014 and now, with the departure of former principal Linda Junge, Benitez is taking the lead.

“Linda and I were like two halves of a whole,” Benitez said. “We were a team.”

She is well prepared to take the helm at CVHS even though COVID guidelines make in-person learning an unusual start to the new school year. Benitez wants to make sure the statements and procedures at the high school are clean and consistent.

Benitez said the students are used to having a dress code and face coverings are now part of that code; however, there may be times when they will have to be reminded to mask up – as will adults as well.

“We are rebuilding this school community,” she said. “A lot has happened in the past two years.”

Anxiety is part of returning to school for both staff and students. In anticipation, CVHS has hired more counselors; there are now six, which lowers the student-to-counselor ratio. There is also the Wellness Center that Benitez and Junge had been working on prior to the pandemic.

“It is a calming space where we use restorative practices, a place where kids can go to relieve anxiety,” she said.

The funding to create and operate the Wellness Center was from a one-year grant. Her goal is to find a way to keep the Center open.

She said she was happy to see teachers use the space as they prepared for school to open. Benitez said the teachers are using restorative practices as they transition from virtual teaching to in-person.

Benitez’s dad was a firefighter and he was also crafty. Her philosophy for preparing for this unusual school year is in line with what she learned from her dad as he readied a room for painting or wall papering.

“I grew up wall papering and painting with my dad. Before you start you have to prime the room. [With the school year] you prime with information,” she said.

She wants to share information, though the mandates regarding COVID compliance are ever-changing. The most important thing, she said, is to get the information to all stakeholders. To help facilitate this, Benitez has started a parent leadership council that includes several organizations.

“This offers a variety of voices,” she said.

She plans to continue to grow this council and wants to bring back “coffee with the principal” conversations.

Benitez began her career in education in 1997 as a math teacher at Hoover High School in GUSD. In 2005, she served as assistant principal in Santa Clarita. She then returned to GUSD and CVHS. Benitez received her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Ohio State University. She received her master’s degrees in teaching mathematics from the University of Virginia and in educational administration from California State University, Northridge, according to GUSD.

CVHS also welcomes two new assistant principals to its staff: Annette Babakhanian and Miguel Gonzalez. They join fellow assistant principals Bill Gallimore and Jordan Lessem.

Gonzalez lives in the community and his son attends CVHS. Prior to taking the assistant principal job at the school he was with Grant High School, part of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

He heard of the available position at GUSD and applied.

“I came in for the interview and [waited] to see what would happen,” he said.

When he found out he got the job he said it was the “perfect spot” for him.

“I was hoping for CV,” he said.

Gonzalez will be overseeing the athletic department, physical education and school safety.

Babakhanian has lived in La Crescenta for 19 years. Her kids attended Valley View Elementary, Rosemont Middle School and CVHS. She has worked at GUSD for 17 years; her last position was as assistant principal at Toll Middle School. She has worked at several Glendale elementary schools but had never worked with high schoolers. She said she is looking forward to this new age group. She will be working with career tech education and special education.

Both Babakhanian and Gonzalez said a primary concern for the beginning of the school year was the wearing of facemasks.

“Keeping the masks on is a big [issue],” Gonzales said. “And the kids need to self-monitor symptoms.”

He said he understands that students don’t want to fall behind or leave school but if they are not feeling well they need to stay home.

Babakhanian added the district will follow the guidelines of LA County Public Health.

“I hope very soon we will reach herd immunity but [until then] the challenge will be to remind people to wear a [face] mask and to wear it over their nose,” she said.

Both said they are excited to have students back in the Falcon hallways. Babakhanian and Gonzalez have and had their own children go through CVHS. This was a concern when they decided to take their jobs.

Gonzalez asked his son, prior to taking the position, if he would have an issue with him being at the same school that his son attends. He said his son responded in a “typical” teen way by saying, “Okay” and not being overly excited. Babakhanian’s children have graduated from CVHS.

“They said ‘We are so happy we are not there anymore,’” she said of their reaction that Mom was going to be on-campus.

Now that schools are back in session, drivers are reminded of increased traffic, especially in the areas around local schools, and are asked to exercise caution.

Robin Goldsworthy contributed to this story.