2 of Wasatch’s Daily Routines May Surprise You
- December 12th, 2024
Every day, Wasatch Elementary starts the day off with two special traditions in their announcements...
Wendy Dau: Welcome, everyone, to this week’s episode of Provo City School District’s What’s Up With the Sup’ podcast. I am Superintendent Wendy Dau. It is fall break this week, and I hope everyone is able to enjoy some time off. October is recognized as Principals Appreciation Month. We have amazing principals in our district, and I wanted to sit down with a couple of them this month.
This week, I am joined by Brooke Dalby, the principal of Centennial Middle School, and Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Schools, Darrell Jensen. We discussed what it is like to be a principal at a middle school.
But first, here are our updates:
And now for our podcast.
Wendy Dau: Welcome, everyone. I’m here today with Centennial Middle School’s principal, brooke Dalby, and our assistant superintendent over secondary education, Darrell Jensen. Welcome to the podcast.
Brooke Dalby: Thanks. Thanks for having us.
Darrell Jensen: It’s awesome to be back here with you again.
Wendy Dau: So this month is National Principals Appreciation Month, and we wanted to talk with you just a little bit about what it’s like to be a principal. Tell us a little bit about how you became a principal. What is your path to get here?
Brooke Dalby: Oh gosh, how far back do you want me to go?
Wendy Dau: However much you want to share.
Brooke Dalby: Okay. So I started as a teacher and was a little bit outspoken.
Wendy Dau: That’s so weird. I would never have thought that.
Brooke Dalby: I know, right?
So I had a principal who was like, Hey, you should consider administration. And frankly, that was like the dark side. I was like, no, I don’t want to do that. , fast forward a few years, and I honestly wanted to be able to have a little bit more influence, because I felt like I was frequently advocating for things I felt were best for students and felt like I just kind of got lost in the crowd.
And I wanted to be able to have a little bit more of an impact. So, I finally took his advice and went into administration. And then I got the job as an Assistant Principal at Centennial for three years, and then became Principal.
Wendy Dau: That’s awesome. Tell us a little bit about what you love most about being at Centennial. What’s the best part?
Brooke Dalby: The best part of being a principal?
So I love Centennial, first off. I think we talk a lot about being a family, and I think that is so true. And I feel that with our faculty, with students, with parents, the whole community, it’s really embodied. As a principal, I think my favorite part is the relationships.
I just like meeting people. I like talking to people, hearing their background stories. I think the best part of my day is just talking to the kids, being in the hallways or in classrooms and just having fun conversations with them and seeing the fun things they do. And most recently we started our Pack Olympics.
It’s an activity. I think you were there for one. And it is the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. And the students get so into it and I love every second of it.
Wendy Dau: That’s great.
Tell us a little bit about one of the things that you really love about middle school, because you hear people a lot of times will say, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you like middle school.”
Or, “Are you waiting to go do something else?” And you’re not that person. And so I want people to really understand why you love it so much and what really speaks to you about it.
Brooke Dalby: I do love it so much.
And I hear that all the time when people ask what I do. And they’re like, “Oh, middle school. Wow.” There’s kind of two sides to it.
So I love that age because they’re just fun. They can be like playful and sarcastic and fun, or they can be a little bit more mature. They’re kind of that perfect mix between elementary students and high school students. They still love their teachers and administrators and see us as positive people and not the scary thing.
But as an administrator, I think my favorite part about middle school is it’s such a transition period, and we have a huge opportunity to make an impact on students. I think middle school is kind of where it’s make or break, and they become the students they’re going to be in high school, and it’s a big job for us, but it’s really cool like to be able to be a part of that part of their lives, and just help form who they’re going to be.
And I feel like sometimes in high school, it’s a little bit too late. They’re already who they are, and middle schoolers you still can make a difference with.
Wendy Dau: Right. So Mr. Jensen, tell us a little bit about what makes Brooke such an incredible middle school principal.
You’ve worked with a ton of principals over your career. What really stands out about how she supports her school and her students?
Darrell Jensen: Well, I think first and foremost, I think she knows her students.
I think whenever I’ve gone up to her school, she is interacting with students. She knows them by name, but not only by name, but she knows their needs and she communicates that with her teachers.
I think she communicates very well with the teachers and with parents, and she’s always looking to do what she can to further their education, whether it be an intervention or whatever it is, she’s always looking to do what’s in the best interest of students. If you’ve ever been to the front office up there, you know that that culture is created by the principal.
It starts at the top. You can feel it when you walk in the front office, all the way from Brooke to the secretary that’s greeting you, to the office aides, to whoever you walk in. It’s been created by her.
Wendy Dau: I agree.
One of the things we were just talking about was, as a leadership team, we were discussing how we needed more supports for secondary students, particularly in literacy and in math– to be quite honest, and part of what generated that discussion was Brooke’s questions about, like, what do you have to help me?
And I remember you saying, like, this is just what Brooke does, like, she’s going to find the space. So talk a little bit more about that, like how she brings it to our attention, things we need to support.
Darrell Jensen: I’ll try to answer that in this way.
We had our principal PSC last week, and we’re talking about are your administrators, are your assistant principals, are your instructional coaches– are you in the classroom? And what does it look like if you are? And we had a pretty discussion.
Brooke, of course, was heavily involved in that discussion and it wasn’t, you know, five minutes after the meeting was over, give or take, that she sends a document that outlines how she tracks that with her own administration. Like, she pays attention to the detail, and she’s already doing a lot of those good practices that we want our administrators to do. But I guess along with that, what I want to say is she’s learned a lot over the years as a principal, and she’s our most tenured secondary principal.
So she, she really, I think she’s really more of a mentor than she knows because she’s not afraid to share that knowledge district wide. Like, we can share those documents or that practice or whatever it is with Provo High, with Shoreline, with whoever, because she’s ahead of the game in some areas.
Wendy Dau: Tell me, Brooke…
Maybe something that you feel like you have advocated for strongly for your students that you feel like is really important that you’re going to keep fighting for– I don’t know– fight is the right word, but maybe just making sure it stays on everyone’s radar, that this is something that’s important that we need to keep paying attention to and that there might be some inequities there that we need to focus on because that’s one of your gifts as a principal is that you really notice those things and try to close those opportunity gaps as much as you can.
Brooke Dalby: That’s so hard to answer, because I feel like that’s just what I’m always doing.
Wendy Dau: This is who you are.
Brooke Dalby: And I don’t see it as like doing it for a group of kids, but just constantly what can we do for any and all kids.
And then, whatever that looks like, whether it’s one thing or five things. But I think PLC work, honestly, to put it lightly, covers a lot of things, because within PLC work, we’re talking about assessing students, knowing what they know and what they don’t know and how to help them.
And then with that comes interventions and extensions and having the support to be able to do that work as a school and whatever that work shows we need. So– if we need a literacy program, like you guys were referring to earlier, we needed some literacy programs and things for some special ed classes, we come to those conclusions based on our PLC work and the data that we have.
So, I just hope that sticks around, and having the time built into our schedule for teachers to do that work is really important. And then having the support from the district, and from our community to continue to be able to do that, to have the early outs or to have intervention time built into the school day to have people I can reach out to so we can just keep doing what the data shows we need to do, right?
Wendy Dau: You were gonna– Mr Johnson–
Darrell Jensen: Well, I think she kind of hit it.
I was gonna mention I’ve– since I’ve known Brooke, she has always had a voice for the students with disabilities, and she’s always looked out for them, whether that’s making sure they’re in front of the right teacher, having more aid support, or just making sure that those accommodations are being made.
And I know she’s reached out to the right people at the district, always trying to make sure she’s getting the right support and interventions for those students to become successful. And, you know, a lot of times, Being an advocate for those students with disabilities can be pushed off to different areas in your school.
But Brooke takes that head on and is a really strong advocate for– for all students really.
Wendy Dau: I agree.
We see that all the time from Brooke. Tell me what, like at a middle school, it’s on a smaller scale, but you have an incredible performing arts department. Talk about how that enriches the school. Cause there are individuals that are like, you should just focus on reading, writing and math, you know, or something like that.
How do these different opportunities– we were in an orchestra class the other day, and tell us about how that’s so important to the community and what you see happen with kids as a result of that.
Brooke Dalby: –And wasn’t Mr. Voght so good?
Wendy Dau: Yeah, he’s so good.
Brooke Dalby: We have the best performing arts teachers at Centennial performing arts.
I mean, there’s the research side where we know that playing an instrument or being involved in different things, whether it’s athletics, music can help students achieve more and perform better in other areas. So, I think it actually supports academics more than we realize or always admit, but everybody has their strengths and their interests and their specialties.
And so I think a big part of performing arts is that it’s what helps students love school. They get involved. They meet people, they’re empowered, they’re confident, they get to perform, they become a little family in those classes. I think they always grow really close and build a lot of relationships and things, and that’s part of why kids come to school.
And so if they can come and love school and want to be there, then we can hit the academics. But they’ve– they’ve got to want to be there. It’s got to be a place for them to come and enjoy being, You know, math, English, science. They are very important, but they’re not going to learn them if they’re not at school.
Wendy Dau: Tell me what you wish people knew about your job and the things that you’re balancing that maybe they don’t know.
Brooke Dalby: I think that might be best explained just by talking about the difference of being the principal versus even the assistant principal.
And a teacher, you know, being the assistant principal for a few years, I thought I was very ready.
And then you step into the role of principal and it’s like, wow. And there’s no way to explain it other than just the weight of the level of responsibility. Because you are kind of that end person. We have district personnel, and you guys are very supportive, but, as an assistant, I could look to the principal and be like, “Hey, I don’t know what to do with this.”
So, then as the principal it’s kind of this big realization, I guess, of like, “Oh, wow, this is on me. I’m making these decisions that impact over a thousand students and hundreds of people, whether that’s my teachers, my staff, my students, my parents, the community.” That’s a lot. You know, it’s a big responsibility.
And with that means we are– as principals– constantly thinking about a million different angles. We have to see the big picture for everyone and how one decision might impact everyone and everything around us. So it’s not as simple as, “We need this class for this group of people.”
It’s okay, but how’s that going to impact parents? What’s the reaction going to be? How’s that going to impact our master schedule? Is that going to change the number of positions we have in our performing arts? And there’s just so many little nuances in a school that I don’t think you really understand, even if we think we do, until you’re the principal and you’re really the one looking at those.
Wendy Dau: I had a conversation with a parent who’s like, why can’t you just make lunch longer?
And I’m like, okay, there’s a lot that goes– I mean, even into a little decision like that. It’s not that it can’t be done. It just doesn’t always happen as fast as sometimes people want it to, so just recognizing that matters.
Darrell, what do you wish that people knew about the job of your secondary principals, and in particular of a middle school principal that people don’t know?
Darrell Jensen: Well, I’m just thinking back to when I was made a principal.
It felt like a weighted blanket was put on me, and I spent the next several years trying to kick it off, and you just can’t.
The job doesn’t end. You’re taking calls, you’re taking texts, you’re constantly always have work to do. You know, the best part of being a principal that I found, and I think Brooke may have touched on this, we come to work and work hits us at the door.
You know, we have things we have to– we have to do as principals, certain things that were held accountable for, but we don’t get to make an agenda, because we show up, and the work hits us. And. I’ve often said to my principals, like, “Just remember you, you know, more than anyone else in the room, you know what’s going on with certain faculty members with certain students.”
And you have to make those decisions according to that. And sometimes your decisions are going to be questioned by parents, by community, by teachers. But you have information that they’re not privy to, and so you do the best you can to make those decisions, keeping the students focused in those decisions.
I think that’s what I would want people to know that we make our decisions based on what we know, and it might not seem right or fair. But there’s a reason we do it, and we’re always trying to do it for the greater good of our student body.
Wendy Dau: The students are definitely at the focus.
I think people don’t always realize that that’s what’s happening, and it doesn’t always feel that way.
And sometimes the information’s coming at you so fast. And you have to make a quick decision, you know, everybody does the very best that they can and gets the resources and help that they can. And it is keeping the students at the center of it.
You know, you just got married and you’re on your honeymoon, you know, and the thing is is that you’re like– while your team was awesome and handled it, this is what I want people to understand– is that you weren’t off the clock, even in that instance.
Tell me a little bit about that because people are updating you like you’re still connected to everything that’s going on as much as we try to protect you from that.
Brooke Dalby: Like Darrell said, it’s twenty-four seven and you can’t disconnect.
So I can’t just go on my honeymoon and completely disconnect. I did as much as I could.
And my team protected me as much as they could. But at the end of the day, when an emergency happens, I have to be available and I have to be involved.. And that’s what it comes down to is you just never know what’s going to come up, you know, in that instance, it was something that was very important and it was very urgent. And so I had to be a part of it.
There have been many Christmas breaks, Christmas Eve, when a Safe UT tip comes in and there’s a serious matter that has to be attended to. And, We do it, you know. There are times over Christmas break I’ve had super heartbreaking news that I’ve had to take on, whether it’s a student or a faculty member.
And that’s why I think we have to be on twenty-four seven and it seems maybe hyperbolic to say, but it’s actually true that it can be life or death. In some situations, and I’m sure you guys both know with something like, say, if you know, suicidal situation or, you know, other things, but it could literally be life or death.
And so I don’t ever want to be the person that misses that phone call or that text or that email and let something like that get through the cracks. And so, and that comes back to that weight of being a principal is –it’s just a weight and I don’t know how else to explain it.
That was part of what was so shocking to me being in this role as a teacher, you have a lot of emotion because you love your students so much and you hear so much about their lives. You know some of the things they’re going through.
And then, when you’re a principal, you know even more about their lives, but then you also get that with the adults, and you’re hearing about what your teachers are going through, or what parents are going through, and you’re human, and you’re going through things.
It’s a lot, but it’s very important. I think that’s why we do it. We love it. We love the people we work with and we feel like our jobs are important.
Wendy Dau: It’s a lifestyle.
When people say, “Oh, is there a work life balance?” I’m like, “Well.. Maybe?” Like to a point there is, but it’s a little bit tricky.
Tell us maybe something that is an experience that you’ve had where you really feel like that helped you grow as a leader that you’re like, I’m really glad that was really hard or that was really interesting that I had to go through this, but this is what I learned from it. And this is how it helped me to be who I am.
Brooke Dalby: I had an experience with a parent.
We had a disciplinary situation with a student and the parent was trying to talk to me about the decision I had made about the discipline and the consequences and I admittedly was not hearing her in the moment.
I was like, nope, this is what we do and this is kind of thing happens. We do this. I’m just staying consistent. And I, I honestly wasn’t very kind or patient or even willing to hear her. And so we stuck with it. And after the fact, when I finally got kind of the emotional side out of the way, I had another follow up with her,= where I was able to listen. She was actually in an administrative program at the time and came
and talked to me kind of from that angle a little bit more, but she explained what she was hoping to ask for in regards to her student and that she wasn’t denying that consequences were necessary, but she was trying to find a way that worked for everybody.
And the idea she had would have worked beautifully ; it would have been so perfect. It was a great solution to the situation. There’s absolutely no reason why I couldn’t have done it. But I just didn’t listen to her. And so I think that was a huge lesson for me. It was the first year I was principal.
The fact that she even gave me the time of day afterwards is awesome, and I am very grateful for her and that experience, because I had to remember to listen.
And we do deal with so much. Like Darrell said, our jobs just hit us when we come through the door, and it can be so overwhelming and so it can be easy to let emotions take hold, or to just be like, “Nope, I know what I’m doing and I don’t need your input” kind of attitude. And so I learned a lot just about listening and being flexible and willing to try new things.
Wendy Dau: When we automate that decision making a little too much, it makes it more efficient, but it makes it less sometimes helpful to the student overall.
What has been an experience at Centennial that just, Makes you so happy. Like you just think back on it and you’re like, I’m never going to forget this. Like it makes me so thrilled.
Brooke Dalby: I like I said, Pack Olympics is so much fun to watch, but the number one thing I think this stands out, this is this day that some students had brought bags of Carolina Reapers.
The peppers are, like, super hot, and they were passing them around, and daring each other to eat them.
And I could hear some commotion from my office, so I came out and in the nurse’s office, there were five or six kids lined up on the bed in there with sour cream speared all over their faces, because they were in so much pain, their lips were stinging from these Carolina Reapers, and nothing was taking care of it.
So Emily Ensign, our office secretary was like, “I don’t know what to try.” And she found this sour cream and she put it on their lips around their mouths and it totally worked.
Wendy Dau: It totally does.
Brooke Dalby: It was the only thing that relieved it.
And so I just walked out to these kids with sour cream and I was like, what is happening? And they had eaten Carolina Reapers.
That’s a day in the life of a middle school principal right there. And you’re like, they’re never going to forget that. They’ll never do that again.
Brooke Dalby: No. And you know, we’ll never forget it either.
I wish I would’ve taken a picture and sent it to their parents just for memory’s sake.
Wendy Dau: That’s good.
Darrell, you’re up at Centennial quite a bit. What’s something that stands out to you when you’re in the school? You talked a little bit about the front office, but what stands out to you and how do you feel like that that is reflective of Brooke’s leadership? Cause I think there’s a lot that happens at Centennial that reflects her leadership.
Darrell Jensen: The adults in the building and the students in the building, just feeling safe and comfortable.
And I’ve been up there with her on class change, and she talks about diamond — she’s actually, she’s actually led me through the diamond and around the diamond and I actually prefer to go around it. That’s okay from now on.
But like I say, she’s interacting with them, even though it’s a challenge to get through there. She’s interacting with them while she’s walking and talking and doing all these things. And I think that’s just who she is. Her assistant principal is the same. They’ve incorporated– I think last year, maybe earlier, I’m not sure– the walking desks.
So, they have desks that they take out and set up shop in the hallways. And I think that really lends itself to getting to know your students and having conversations that you wouldn’t have otherwise. And I think that’s important for the students to know that they can approach you and have those conversations without you guys implementing that you’re not having those conversations really.
And you’re not– you know, for lack of a better term– you’re not monitoring their behavior in the hallways, which trust me, in the middle school is tough work, but you do a really nice job of that. You and your entire team, especially with as many students as you have at Centennial. It’s tricky up there to even that monitoring and supervising outside of the building.
It’s tricky with an elementary school so close and the traffic in and out and the students coming and going, it’s a tricky situation.
Wendy Dau: Why are you glad to be a principal in Provo District?
Brooke Dalby: As a principal in Provo, I feel very supported. I was admittedly a little bit nervous.
I came from Granite School District, which is much bigger, and just very different in a lot of ways, and coming to Provo felt very scary and kind of foreign and new.
And there’s ideas out there about smaller districts, but I have been so pleasantly surprised. I feel like as a district, Provo is absolutely focused on students and what is best for students. And they don’t let that be forgotten. They don’t let all the other managerial parts of running a school district get in the way. Everything truly does come back to students.
And I feel that way about all the departments in the district office, all the people I work with, especially in the district office. And then again, just the support and how easy it is to reach out to either of you or to student services, special education, HR, everybody’s very responsive, very available, very open.
It’s really easy to communicate with everybody and we can still be centennial. And Shoreline can still be Shoreline,, and do what our unique communities need in an aligned way. Like, I feel like Provo’s pretty good at that. Nobody’s perfect, there’s always things to improve on, but they do a really good job of letting us do what we need to do for our own schools without losing that big picture as a district.
Wendy Dau: I’m so glad to hear that. That makes me very happy.
At the board meeting last night, we were looking at some of the district report card data, and just some of the stuff that’s on the data gateway, and one of the things that really stood out to me is that you really are trying to focus on the opportunity gap that exists with your students, and really trying to figure out how to hone in on that. And so the growth piece is very important to you– the growth of the lowest 25 percent is very important to you, because that’s really how we measure that equity piece.
Sometimes people ask me, why are you measuring the growth of the lowest 25%? And like, that’s how you’re closing those opportunity gaps. That’s the equity measurement.
Tell us a little bit about how you bring your faculty along. To focus on that, because you have a wide range of students as Centennial and you have got like driven, they’re gonna be Nobel Prize winners.
And I mean, every school has this, right? But I also think Centennial is, you know, definitely– you see it. And then you also have kids that are just struggling. How do you bring your faculty together and your community together so that everybody’s understanding, that like , we’re in the business of educating all kids and we’re going to maximize those opportunities for everybody.
What does that look like?
Brooke Dalby: Well, I’m glad you highlighted that.
Cause we just celebrated it as a faculty because that bottom 25 percent is part of the report card specifically. And we were aiming at that. My philosophy really is it comes down to communication and transparency. Having clear goals that have a reason, that are based on data, that are based on how we’re doing and what, and where we need to be.
And I just believe in being very clear with that, communicating the data, having the hard conversations. I don’t believe in ignoring things just because it’s hard. So sometimes there’s data that maybe we don’t love to see because it’s not great. But I think that’s really important and to be able to have those conversations.
So I don’t shy away from the hard conversations, but we also look at them, I think, in a proactive way. And I have to admit, I just am really lucky. I have a great faculty and they are really positive and I can throw things at them. We can have these hard conversations and they embrace it. And they really love kids, all kids.
So I can ask them to do these hard things and they come along with me. But I think that comes with sharing the why and the purpose, the reason. So again, it comes back to that data and the goals and helping everybody understand why we’re doing what we’re doing, why I’m asking them what I’m asking them.
And with parents, community, students, it again, I think is that open communication and building those relationships and just being able to. listen and hear, but also tell everybody where we’re at. And so I think that’s what I’ve tried to embody. I’ve just tried to do a lot more of the communicating and sending out newsletters and emails, and we do a weekly faculty newsletter.
And in that there’s a lot of shout outs and recognition of what’s going well, but also a lot of the data and updates. And then I try to do a monthly newsletter to parents and I think that’s a place where I could improve. But just that transparency and communication.
Wendy Dau: Okay. So you have your boss here.
So, what would you want to ask? Like, what do you need?
You’re right here. As a principal, what do we need to do to support you and your students better than what we’re doing? Cause there’s always room for improvement.
Brooke Dalby: There is, but you guys have asked me this before, and I truly don’t know what to answer other than to keep listening, to keep hearing us and reacting, and I have felt that way.
I’ve felt very heard. So I would say just keep doing that. I appreciate being able to give input. I like to hear that when I bring things up, it is talked about in leadership meetings.
It’s just nice to feel like I’m actually being heard. And I think it makes it easier to advocate for my school and my students when I know that the district is listening and willing.
And I think that about our board, too. They are so willing to hear us and hear the community and hear students and gather feedback and I think everybody tries really hard and so if there’s anything I need, I would just say keep doing that, keep listening and listening to all the voices and finding ways to get all the voices out there.
Wendy Dau: I feel like that’s doable.
Better be. For sure.
Wendy Dau: Yeah, it is.
Well, Brooke, we are thrilled to work with you.
And I think you’re an outstanding principal. We are very lucky to have you at Centennial. And if, if someone were to try to give you like a treat or an awesome thing for principal’s appreciation, what is your, What would that look like?
What would you want that to be? Cause maybe there’s parents listening and you could like get all sorts of stuff.
Brooke Dalby: I don’t know.
Our parents are already so good to us.
Wendy Dau: That’s good.
Brooke Dalby: I would say I have a weakness for coffee and or Mountain Dew. So throw that up.
Wendy Dau: Girl after my own heart right there. That’s awesome.
Okay. Thank you so much for being on our podcast, Brooke. We really do appreciate all that you do in Provo City School District and for Centennial.
Brooke Dalby: Thanks for having me.
Wendy Dau: 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, please email us at podcast. provo. edu.
Provo School District, where we welcome, educate, and inspire.
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