As students return to full-time, in-person learning, we have settled into what a “current normal” looks like - masks, physical distancing, lunch under canopies outside. This school year also brings new leadership at Tolt Middle School, adjusting and working with the changes and challenges of what education looks like in an ongoing pandemic.
Karen Maguigad joins the Tolt administrative team as Assistant Principal, while Theresa Vander Vaart moves into the role as Tolt’s new Dean of Students. Together, they are committed to helping build a culture of personalized learning, inclusiveness, and acceptance, while working to ensure the Tolt community of students, families, and staff remain focused on a common goal of success for each and every student.
Maguigad’s transition to Tolt and Riverview School District comes, most recently, by way of Eisenhower Middle School in Everett. Vander Vaart, an Administrative Intern pursuing her Residency Principal Administrator certificate and completing her Master of Education, moves from Tolt’s English Language Arts team into her new role.
Though both are passionate about their work in education and the differences they make each day for students, Maguigad and Vander Vaart have walked somewhat different paths leading to their roles in school administration.
“I am the only educator in my family,” shares Maguigad. “I always liked being a student, always liked school. English was my favorite subject, but I thought I might become a counselor or a therapist. Then, during a break from school I started envisioning myself as a teacher, and thought, ‘this seems like it fits’.”
For Vander Vaart, she knew education was something she would pursue at a relatively young age.
“I decided, probably in sixth grade, that I was going to be a teacher. I have quite a few educators in my family – both my parents were public school teachers, same with aunts, uncles, cousins – I spent a lot of time growing up in schools and that really solidified that I wanted to be an educator as well. It just made sense.”
As educators in the classroom, Maguigad and Vander Vaart could see the direct impact they had on students. They saw bigger opportunities in making positive impacts in school culture and creating safe spaces for students to learn effectively.
“As a department chair at Issaquah High School, I started to see education in a different way,” says Maguigad. “I got involved in building leadership and I wanted to be able to affect more than just the kids in the classroom at that point. If I can impact and work with teachers, then I am impacting more than just my kids. Kids can have that strong teacher and develop a deeper love of learning.”
“I love the classroom and the energy we create with students,” Vander Vaart adds. “It is fun being able to be around them and work with them and get to hear their perspectives. In the last few years though there’s been this little whisper – ‘What else can you do outside of your classroom? How can you collaborate with teachers to make a better school environment? How can you work with students to have their voices be heard, not just in your classroom but throughout a school or school system’.”
As the new Assistant Principal and Dean of Students, Maguigad and Vander Vaart welcome the new opportunities awaiting them. Each has experience in supporting students in social-emotional learning and are skilled in PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions Support) implementation. Maguigad served as a Dean of Students from 2015-17 in the Issaquah School District, prior to her work at Eisenhower Middle School. At Riverview, there is a more personal, one-on-one approach that is sometimes missed within a larger district.
“I am super excited to have the chance to work with Theresa as our Dean of Students because I think that collaboration in having a support role is so huge. I started in a rural community (Pasco), and although it was a bigger population and district, they still had just one high school where there was a small-town feel to it. I am reminded a bit of my experience there in coming to Riverview, but Everett and Issaquah were much different. Everything there was ‘system-driven,’ and this district allows for more personal connection. You can avoid the risk of getting lost in the shuffle.”
Vander Vaart adds: “Tolt has progressively been shifting in a more positive way. To be able to help facilitate those conversations and involve students in discussions around what kind of school they want and having them share what kind of place they want school to be, is very important. Being brave enough to acknowledge that sometimes we make mistakes, and we are all learning together is a big piece of the learning process. Having those conversations with students and adults and asking the questions about what’s working well and what may need to be shifted makes things work better.”
Please join us in welcoming Karen Maguigad and Theresa Vander Vaart into their new roles as Tolt’s Assistant Principal and Dean of Students.