Episode 48: Wasatch’s New Principal, Ruth Ann Snow

July 17th, 2024 /
Alexander Glaves /

Sup with the Sup

Episode 48: Wasatch's New Principal, Ruth Ann Snow

00:00 / 13:38

Welcome everyone to the next episode of Provo City School District’s What’s Up with the Sup’ podcast. I am Superintendent Wendy Dau. This week, I will be visiting with the new principal of Wasatch Elementary, Ruth Ann Snow. But first, let’s go over the updates. It is officially summer. Each of our schools have summer hours.

If you need to visit with someone at your school, visit your school’s website for hours of operation, or you can contact our main district line and they will also have that information available for you. June 3rd through July 18th, our district provides free summer meals.

Children ages 1 through 18 that live in Provo can receive a free breakfast and free lunch. Visit Franklin, Provo Peaks, Spring Creek, Sunset View, Timpanogos Elementary Schools, or Independence or Provo High Schools, whichever school you live closest to, Monday through Thursday for a free meal. Visit our website for times and details. If you are interested in hearing updates regarding the construction projects happening throughout the district, please visit the district website and click on the new construction newsletter signup link.
Watch for the summer newsletter coming to your home in Provo the first part of July. For complete updates during the summer visit us on our website or on social media. And now on to our guest.

Wendy Dau: Welcome everyone to this week’s podcast. I have Ruth Ann Snow as our guest this week. She has been the principal at Spring Creek Elementary and is now moving to be the principal at Wasatch Elementary.

Welcome, Ruth Ann.

Ruth Ann Snow: Thanks for having me. It’s great to be here.

Wendy Dau: I’m excited to have a few minutes to talk with you and just kind of find out a little bit about you so our Wasatch community gets to know you a little bit.

Ruth Ann Snow: Great. Thank you.

Wendy Dau: Tell us a little bit about your educational background and kind of how you ended up being a principal and then kind of your path to Wasatch Elementary in particular.

Ruth Ann Snow: That is a great question. I’m what you call a late bloomer. I started college and kept working toward college as I was a stay-at-home mom with four daughters. I, at some point, I saw the impact that teachers have in students’ lives, and I decided I wanted to be a part of that. And so I finished my education and became licensed at the age of 40. I graduated from college.

Wendy Dau: That’s amazing.

Ruth Ann Snow: And have gone from there and I’ve never looked back. It’s a path that I probably wouldn’t have taken had I finished at a younger age because I was on a different trajectory with a college major, but I feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing.

Wendy Dau: That’s awesome. So when you graduated from college, did you start off teaching? Have you? Like, I think you’ve done some coaching and some different things. So tell us a little bit about that experience.

Ruth Ann Snow: So all of my teaching years were spent at Wasatch.

Wendy Dau: Okay, that’s cool.

Ruth Ann Snow: I was a traditional side third-grade teacher.

And then I was a second-grade DLI teacher.

Wendy Dau: Okay.

Ruth Ann Snow: And so I feel like I understand both sides of traditional track, um, versus DLI track. After I spent some years teaching, I had the opportunity, um, to go to Franklin Elementary and be their Title I coordinator. And I loved that experience. I learned so much.

Then the opportunity came about at the district to be the literacy curriculum specialist and help oversee DLI and world languages. And so I jumped at that opportunity. A colleague convinced me to get my master’s degree with her to do the leadership admin side, and I never thought I would use it, but I did it after I graduated from SUU.

I started at Wasatch as an assistant principal there for two years, and then I landed at Spring Creek.

Wendy Dau: That’s amazing. That is, that is quite the journey.

Ruth Ann Snow: It is.

Wendy Dau: That’s incredible. So lots of different experiences with lots of different student populations, different challenges.

Ruth Ann Snow: For sure. Yes.

Wendy Dau: So tell us a little bit about your why.

You know, I feel like educators have this why, like it is an exhausting job to be in education, especially when you’re in it for a long time. What gets you out of bed? What makes you get excited about being part of this profession?

Ruth Ann Snow: So I would say it initially started with the kids and that’s still a huge part of that, right?

Um, and I think that that’s quite cliche coming from an educator, but I think that that initially was absolutely my why. And as I’ve had the opportunity to work in different schools and just, you know, being at Franklin and then also in the district position, being able to work with all the different elementaries, I gained such a greater appreciation for teachers and what they do.

It’s a demanding job. It is so rewarding. So, my why has evolved into encompassing teachers and helping teachers feel supported, while also helping create a culture and environment where children can thrive, they feel excited to come to school. So, I would say that that’s my vision.

Wendy Dau: That’s awesome. And I see that at Spring Creek, like just the atmosphere that’s there is just incredible.

From your teachers, to your kids, to the support staff, your energy and your passion is just it’s reflected in, in everybody in that building. I hope you know that. So that’s why you’re going to be so missed.

Ruth Ann Snow: Well, thank you. They make it very easy. And I think a part of that as well as working with the community, everybody brings a common interest and that is supporting teachers and helping students learn.

So it definitely is. It’s a community effort.

Wendy Dau: It definitely is. I agree. What are you most excited about, um, in terms of Returning to Wasatch.

Ruth Ann Snow: So I know this is a podcast, but I brought show and tell.

Wendy Dau: Oh, I love it.

Ruth Ann Snow: The Snow family genes go way back to Wasatch. And my mother was raised in Provo and her youngest sister was in one of the first classes at Wasatch Elementary.

And then years later, I happened to marry my husband, who is a local Provo boy, and went to Wasatch, and this is a picture of him in September of 1969 as a newly six year old. His mom held him back a year because he was really shy, and this is his first day of kindergarten in front of Wasatch.

Wendy Dau: Oh my gosh, that’s incredible.

Ruth Ann Snow: And all of our, and so we’ve also lived in the community off and on throughout the years, So all of my children have had the opportunity of going to Wasatch. I was a parent volunteer there. I was a paraprofessional for a year in the first Chinese DLI classroom in first grade. It’s been part of the community.

Wendy Dau: It’s just in your blood.

Ruth Ann Snow: It’s in my blood. And so this always sits in my office. It’s a reminder of, you know, of all the different children who have come through the doors of Wasatch. And as my, my husband reminds me, he got to know the principal’s office a few times too many, so he gives me perspective.

Wendy Dau: That’s good. That’s good. Tell me what you are most nervous about in terms of returning to Wasatch.

Ruth Ann Snow: You know, I think that, like students, we as teachers, administrators, whatever your position, you get those first day of school butterflies, and that’s, that’s an energy that that drives you. I would say I’m just, I’m most nervous about going in and really getting to know students again, student’s names.

I’ve been there a few times and I recognize kids, but they, they’re a little bigger. And so, and my memory is not as good. So just wanting to really remember their names, get to know them again, to go back and work with the teachers, many of whom I know. And with this move coming up, take the challenges that are going to be in front of us and bring everyone together.

It’s a community I really care about. I live in this community. I take it very seriously when parents are sending their children to be in your care, if you will. Right. And actually learn and grow and have it be a positive experience. So that’s a lot of pressure that I think we all put on ourselves. And so I would say that’s what I’m most nervous about.

Wendy Dau: Well, it’s a good kind of nervous, but I will tell you, it is also a very daunting task to move a building. So I, yes, but hopefully our new school will be so worth it. And so it will be okay, even with all of the stress that’s going to accompany that.

Ruth Ann Snow: Honestly, what we’re trying to focus on is, yes, it’s going to be difficult, but what an amazing opportunity we have to go into a brand new state of the art facility.

And really bring us all under one roof again. Yes. We’ve had a lot of chance at Wasatch to spread out and there’s something about being a collective body in one building.

Wendy Dau: Yep.

Ruth Ann Snow: And I think that that’s exciting and that while it will be a hard transition maybe, I think it’s a great way to attract students, to keep students there and let them experience the great opportunity to just be in a new space.

Wendy Dau: Yeah. Knowing how successful Wasatch is and knowing how dedicated the community is, they want and love that there’s a high quality of education there. What’s your vision for Wasatch? How do you help support the community and continue that dedication?

Ruth Ann Snow: I think that, um, I’ve seen a Wasatch evolve over the years, and what I would love to see happen is the culture is every student feels of equal value.

Whatever program or track you decide to do, that there are world class educations, either avenue that you as a parent decide to put your child on. And by, you know, growing, especially the DLI side has grown, it’s robust. We need to, you know, continue to help those teachers and those students, but also let there be another alternative that’s exciting and high quality for parents to choose for their students.

And so that we have these two tracks. But we have one purpose.

Wendy Dau: That’s right.

Ruth Ann Snow: And that can be a really hard thing to develop. But I think that as I come in and we work together and we have a new space as well to move into, that it’s a great opportunity to continue to build on, on the steps and foundation that’s been laid there.

Wendy Dau: That’s awesome. I appreciate that phrase, you know, having one purpose. We’re all here to get the highest level of education that we can. And we’re all working towards that to create the best opportunities. When you, when we announced your appointment to the faculty, clearly everyone was upset that Principal Fuhriman was leaving, but when it was stated that you were going to be the new principal, there were just gasps of yes.

So, um, just hoping that, you know, that people are pretty excited to have you return to Wasatch. So you’ve, you’ve made a lasting impression there.

Ruth Ann Snow: Well, thank you. Everyone has been very gracious and welcoming. I’m going between both sites right now, both schools, to see what, that there are, you know, teachers there who are working in grade level teams doing some summer work and planning.

At Wasatch right now, it looks a little bit different. You have some teachers decluttering and getting rid of things.

Wendy Dau: It’s just great that they’re working together.

Ruth Ann Snow: Yes.

Wendy Dau: Yeah. Yes. Tell me what you wish the community would know about you, or maybe even students would know about you that maybe they don’t know.

Ruth Ann Snow: Well, I, I’m a grandma.

Wendy Dau: I love it.

Ruth Ann Snow: Which I go.

Wendy Dau: Yes, you are.

Ruth Ann Snow: So, I have four grandchildren. I continue to care about kids and education. And I want parents, I want teachers, I want students to know that I really care about the individual. And, that they’re always in a leadership position, there are hard decisions that have to be made.

I am very much, I want to listen, I want to get input. And at the end of the day, I hope that I can earn their trust and continue to have such on a positive path for growth.

Wendy Dau: Right.

Ruth Ann Snow: And that it will take some time.

Wendy Dau: Yeah, it does. And I think sometimes when we can help people recognize that even if we don’t agree on what that decision was, we still have a respectful and good relationship that people still feel heard and, and feel like, okay, I, I can see this.

You know, I might not agree with it, but at least I feel like this person communicated with me and helped me understand it.

Ruth Ann Snow: For sure.

Wendy Dau: And you’re, and you’re excellent at that. So I’m excited for Wasatch to have you as their principal. That’ll be amazing.

Ruth Ann Snow: Thank you.

Wendy Dau: Anything else you would like to share as, as we introduce you as the new principal of Wasatch elementary?

Ruth Ann Snow: I feel like I’ve hit the lottery or by being an educator in Provo City School District. I have have felt the trust of parents, administrators throughout my career, and I love doing what I’m doing. I just am excited for a new opportunity. And we’ll just see what the future holds.

Wendy Dau: That sounds great. Thank you so much, Ruth Ann, for being on our podcast this week. It was great to visit with you.

Ruth Ann Snow: Thank you. It was good to be here.

Wendy Dau: Perfect. Thank you, everyone, for joining me for this week’s episode of What’s Up With the Sup’? As always, all episodes will be posted on the district website, YouTube, and anywhere you get your podcasts.

If you have any topics or questions you would like us to discuss on the podcast, please email us at podcast@provo.edu. Join me next week for an all new episode. Have a great week, everyone.