Episode 97: Meet Sean Edwards, Centennial Middle Principal

July 7th, 2025 /
Spencer Tuinei /

Sup with the Sup

00:00 / 19:20

Wendy Dau: Welcome everyone to this week’s episode of What’s Up With the Sup. I am here with Sean Edwards, who is our new principal at Centennial Middle School. Welcome, Sean.

Sean Edwards: Thank you so much for having me. I am so excited for this conversation today.

Wendy Dau: I am too. I’ve been looking forward to it. Tell us a little bit about– just tell us a little bit about you. Like you’ve been at Canyon Crest for a little bit, but you have a wealth of experience in education and maybe tell us too, like some of the things you love to do or just– yeah. Tell us all the things.

Sean Edwards: Things about me.

Wendy Dau: Yeah. Yeah. Let’s–

Sean Edwards: I love it–

Wendy Dau: Let’s do it. Let’s–

Sean Edwards: All right. Well, I started out my journey into K -12 education, starting in special education. I was a special education teacher. Absolutely loved it at Timpview High School.

Wendy Dau: Holy cow.

I became assistant principal at Timpview High School.

Yep.

Sean Edwards: And did that for five incredible years.

Wendy Dau: And you were beloved, by the way. That’s what I always hear from everybody, and that’s when I met you. Yes. And you were an assistant principal at Timpview when I first met you.

Sean Edwards: That’s right.

Wendy Dau: Yeah. That’s awesome.

Sean Edwards: Yeah. And I have to say the the feeling is reciprocated. I absolutely loved being at Timpview, working with the faculty and staff, the community, the students, and eventually transitioned into the role as principal at Canyon Crest Elementary. Which, fun fact, I did my student teaching at Canyon Crest elementary.

Wendy Dau: Oh, shut up. No way.

Sean Edwards: So it’s been like this full circle moment circle.

Wendy Dau: I didn’t know that. That’s awesome.

Sean Edwards: It’s so fun. Absolutely loved my time being the head principal at Canyon Crest, and now I have the opportunity to be the principal at Centennial Middle School, which we know is, you know, the Canyon Crest feeds into– yeah– and is the feeder for Timpview High School.

Wendy Dau: I know!

Sean Edwards: And so I’m just really excited to reengage back with the broader community of. Centennials community. And also to continue supporting the Canyon Crest community–

Wendy Dau: I know!

Sean Edwards: Which is where I spent so much time these past few years.

Wendy Dau: That’s awesome. Tell us a little bit about how your journey in special education has prepared you to be just such a fantastic administrator. ‘Cause I think people who have that special education lens have a different perspective that lends so much to the work that we do.

Sean Edwards: Certainly, I am so grateful for my background in special education. I use my special education experience and knowledge from not only in the classroom, but also in my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in special education every single day to find creative solutions to support and help unique learners learn.

Wendy Dau: Yes!

Sean Edwards: It’s just so powerful because we know the traditional experience for students is not always going to serve them best.

Wendy Dau: Okay.

Sean Edwards: And so we have to get thoughtful and innovative with the resources that we have to really equip our students with the skills they need to know to prepare for that next step in their educational journey.

And I feel like my background and special education has truly helped me to be able to do that.

Wendy Dau: Yeah, no question. I would agree with that. Give us an example maybe of something that you’ve done that has been kind of that outside the box thinking at– whatever other assignment it’s been where you’ve helped to support a student or a group of students.

Sean Edwards: Yeah, that’s a fantastic question. You know, one of the things that immediately comes to mind is the work that is so critical to supporting our school improvement plan goals. We put a lot of deep thought and intention around designing school improvement plan goals for academic areas, as well as school climate and culture so that we can keep moving forward in a positive direction.

Wendy Dau: Right.

Sean Edwards: And in order to do that, we have to be not only reflective of the data that we have and the current outcomes of our students, but we have to get creative in terms of involving multiple stakeholders.

Yeah, and that’s something that I’ve really learned over the past few years as a school administrator, is that you can lay forward the best intended plans and it’s like– you feel so like, oh, I thought about this. I’ve put work into this. We’ve nailed this. We have nailed this, nailed this!

But if we don’t have our parent community on board, if we haven’t had critical conversations with the educators in our building, including our building leadership team members, then those plans are only that– well intentioned.

Wendy Dau: –Intentioned, that’s right.

Sean Edwards: And so that’s something that I feel like I’ve been able to get creative around in forming parent focus groups.

Wendy Dau: Yes, you have done that.

Sean Edwards: And student focus groups as well as using our educators and identifying where they’re at and where they want to go. And also working with our school leadership team at the district office who is so supportive of what we’re trying to do in the building.

I mean– just bringing in all these perspectives from the various stakeholders to support the direction of the school. That’s where we see the magic happen.

Wendy Dau: Yeah, I would agree with that. I think one of the things that you’re touching on is you talked about how when you were developing the mission and the vision for Canyon Crest.

You had all of these individuals coming in and participating in that process, and you can see it. Everybody owns that in your school. And that is so powerful because, because it’s just, you witnessed it at every single juncture.

Sean Edwards: Oh, thank you so much. I, oh– I love the mission and vision that the Canyon Crest community just rallied around.

Wendy Dau: Yeah, they did.

Sean Edwards: Just to think of the stakeholder input. And then also we start every single meeting with our school’s mission and vision.

Wendy Dau: Yes, we do.

Sean Edwards: And we were coming to the end of the school year– fun kind of anecdote here–

Wendy Dau: Yeah.

Sean Edwards: And I was popping into a few classes to share a few things and talk to the students, talk about how their experience has been this school year and I was in Miss Free’s third grade class, and right as I was about to leave the classroom, Miss Free said, Dr. Edwards, my students would like to share something with you. I don’t know what this meant.

I was like, oh no. Here we go.

Wendy Dau: What? What is this? You never, you never know.

Sean Edwards: You never really know. At the end of the school year, we go, exactly could be anything.

And the students stood up. They recited our mission–

Wendy Dau: wow.

Sean Edwards: And vision, because they have truly embraced it. And that like– that meant the absolute world to me. That was such a moment of pride for me.

Wendy Dau: Yeah. That’s awesome. I know!

One of the things I really appreciate about you as a leader is that you walk the walk. You don’t just talk the talk. So every time I’m at your school and you’re leading a meeting, you do that. You talk about the mission and the vision, and you’re focused on the work that you’re doing as a school community at every single juncture, like you bring it back so that everybody’s reminded of what our important work is that we’re doing.

So I, I mean, you’re not just saying that you do that. I have witnessed it so many times. So awesome.

Sean Edwards: Oh, thank you, superintendent. Thank you.

Wendy Dau: It’s awesome.

What are some of the things that you’re really looking forward to as you make the transition to Centennial Middle School?

Sean Edwards: Yeah. I am really looking forward to putting that secondary hat back on. It’s been a minute.

Wendy Dau: It has been a minute. It’s been a minute.

Sean Edwards: Yep. So I’m sure there’s gonna be some, you know, a learning curve there. I am really, really excited, particularly. I feel that my experience as an elementary school principal will really serve me well going into the principalship at Centennial Middle School.

What I’ve learned from being an elementary school principal is how intently and deliberately focused elementary educators are at responding to data.

Wendy Dau: That is so true. That is so true.

Sean Edwards: –Exciting to me.

Wendy Dau: That is so exciting.

Sean Edwards: And so I just want to bring that knowledge that I’ve learned from Canyon Crest to Centennial so that we can remain data driven in what we’re doing. Because the data, you know, the data tells a story, it tells us where we’re at, and it tells us where we need to go.

And so my hope is that I can bring that lens and do some really meaningful work around responding to data. I know Centennial has done fantastic things already.

I mean, coming in I see that Principal Dalby has really created such a dynamic space at Centennial Middle School. My hope is that I can bring my experiences now and add to–

Wendy Dau: Oh, you will.

Sean Edwards: The amazing things that are already happening. Yeah.

Wendy Dau: I think one of the things too, that being a secondary person myself, I feel like we always struggle with how are you going back and helping reteach different concepts? What does that look like? How do I know that the data I’m gathering, how do I analyze all of these different pieces that I’m getting?

I do think our elementary teachers are really focused and gifted in that almost, and we have a lot to share between the elementary and the secondary. So that’s one of the reasons why I’m also really excited to see you move from the elementary to the secondary.

For that reason, you’ll bring that skillset to those teachers, which will be fantastic.

Sean Edwards: Thank you.

Wendy Dau: What do you think that middle school students are gonna surprise you the most with? ’cause middle schoolers are a little bit different, so what are you anticipating there?

Sean Edwards: Middle school is such, you know, I think about, yeah– thank you for asking!

Wendy Dau: I know! I kind of took you off guard. Sorry.

Sean Edwards: Yeah, no, I, I’m just reflecting on my own– Yeah– middle school experience and I’m just thinking of who I was in middle school.

Wendy Dau: Mm-hmm.

Sean Edwards: And I think about how, you know, it’s complex, and it’s challenging, and you’re navigating friendships and relationships, and you’re also given quite a bit more autonomy at this time in your life than you had an elementary school.

And so as you explore and dive into some of those early college and career pathway experiences– there is just so much opportunity, and I’m really excited to explore opportunity with the students at the middle school level.

So I definitely anticipate, you know, middle school students–

Wendy Dau: Oh yeah.

Sean Edwards: Going through those growing pains, yes. And, you know, navigating those maybe some tension within not only peer relationships, but finding out what they like, what they don’t like, and what they enjoy and what their interests are, and I’m just excited to be a part of that process for them because it is such a critical time.

Wendy Dau: I would agree with that. I love how you’re describing it as a time full of opportunities. They’re starting to get exposed to things that will open up layers of– of opportunities for them even later on if we direct them, and help them, and kind of coach them in the right way. So that’s a really great description.

What do you want the students at Centennial that don’t know you? Because a lot of them will know you because they have come through Canyon Crest, but those that don’t know you, what do you hope that they know about Dr. Edwards?

Sean Edwards: I hope they know that I am their number one advocate.

Wendy Dau: Yeah.

Sean Edwards: That’s who I want to be for the Centennial students.

I want to support them. I want to be someone who– that they can turn to, that they can ask questions to, that they feel safe around, that they feel that they can get advice from.

Wendy Dau: Yeah.

Sean Edwards: I want to be a mentor, a role model, and someone that they trust that is so crucial and important in terms of who I want to be for the Centennial students.

Wendy Dau: That’s awesome. I know when we announced that you were moving to Centennial to our faculty, they were so overjoyed because they were so nervous about who was going to be their principal. So you’ve already established yourself, obviously in the Provo community, in in such a big way.

What do you hope the parents will know as you?

I kind of feel like principals are like, we’re like stewards over their kids for a big portion of the day and they trust us a lot. They entrust us to do, to help the learning and progression of their children. What do you hope that they know about you?

Sean Edwards: Yeah, I view the parents of the students as the most invested person in their child’s education.

Wendy Dau: Absolutely.

Sean Edwards: And so for me, the partnership that I as the principal have with parents is so incredibly important.

Wendy Dau: I agree.

Sean Edwards: My hope is that we can collaborate, that we can work together, that we can be open and honest with one another. I want to know, you know, from the parent community, what are your goals and aspirations?

Wendy Dau: Yeah.

Sean Edwards: For your child. How, then, can I come in as someone who’s supportive of that to help realize those outcomes? Yeah, and so my hope is that I can build really strong relationships with the parents of the students that I’m serving.

Wendy Dau: That’s great. I think one of the things that has been fractured in the past between educators and parents in the past.

I think there was some tension between educators and parents, and this belief that educators know education best, and there wasn’t as much of a desire to partner. And I think we have learned that– that’s not the way to go. That our parents want what’s best for kids. Our educators want what’s best for kids, and that when we partner together, that’s when we see the greatest successes.

Sean Edwards: Right, for kids.

Wendy Dau: So I would love for you to talk a little bit more about that? Because at Canyon Crest I felt like you did such a good job of building those relationships with parents, what is the key to that? How do you do that and how do you plan to do that at Centennial?

Sean Edwards: Yeah, thank you so much. I feel like for me, I find a lot of success in building relationships with parents when I can very deliberately take a step back from maybe what I, the direction I, you know, think is best or that I want to go, and when I just listen.

Wendy Dau: Yeah.

Sean Edwards: When you just take a moment to just listen to the parents who, again, are the most invested person in the education of their child. They want what’s best for their child, and they know their child the best.

Wendy Dau: That’s right. I mean, truly they do.

Sean Edwards: And so when we– when we can be very thoughtful about just listening and then responding and not reacting, okay– that’s when I find a lot of success in building relationships of trust and vulnerability. And that is, that’s just so, it’s so paramount to supporting kids.

Wendy Dau: I think it helps us be more creative in our problem solving when we can partner with ’em in that process. That just opens up more possibilities for sure.

Why do you love education so much? I mean, it’s clear. You’re very, you’re very passionate about life in general, but you know what makes you tick– about education?

Sean Edwards: Yeah.

Wendy Dau: Like, because it’s, it’s something you care about. I can see it. You can feel it, when you’re with you.

Sean Edwards: Education for me is, I mean, it is the gate to all other opportunities in life and for me, that is truly exciting to be in a position where, as an educator– whether it’s a teacher, instructional coach, administrator, speech language pathologist, I mean, wherever you are working in the K 12 education system to be able to support kids at unlocking opportunity– is really, really engaging work!

Wendy Dau: Yeah.

Sean Edwards: There’s not a dull moment. It’s so fun. It’s innovative. It’s creative, and you just get to see this progression, not only student learning and not just student growth as they grow physically and they grow taller, you know, they do, but just grow in their learning and how they interact and engage with one another, and that all of that wrapped up just is so–

Wendy Dau: Absolutely!

Sean Edwards: It’s just powerful work.

Wendy Dau: Yeah.

Sean Edwards: It’s the best work we can be doing. It’s the most noble work because we are preparing the future of–

Wendy Dau: Yes.

Sean Edwards: Our society. Yes. And so that just, I just get really excited about, you know, education and just where we’re going. I feel like we continue to learn as professional educators and grow ourselves and that just makes ourselves better for kids.

And I just see like this upward trajectory of hope and inspiration in the education field that I’m just so passionate about.

Wendy Dau: Well, and you just see it when you watch kids walk across the stage at graduation, you’re just like, oh my goodness. Just watching those students have accomplished so much, and so many of them have overcome so much, and just it truly is extraordinary what happens.

And to just see it’s really a whole community that has made that possible. So, yeah.

Sean Edwards: Yeah.

Wendy Dau: We are really excited to have you at Centennial Middle School. Is there anything else you would like to share with us about going to Centennial? I don’t want to ask you about all of your specific plans ’cause I feel like that’s not fair ’cause you’re not quite there yet.

But I know you’re gonna be doing fantastic things just because of all of the great work you’ve done at Canyon Crest and at Timpview. But anything else you would like to share with our Centennial community?

Sean Edwards: Oh, thank you so much for having me on the podcast. I’m so excited to be the principal at Centennial Middle School.

I’m, I’m excited. And to the students: I’m really excited to meet you.

Wendy Dau: I love it.

Sean Edwards: I hope we can get to know each other really well. I just, again, I want to be your advocate, your support system. And so please, my door is open, my office is your office, and so please come and seek me out, find me, and ask me questions.

Let me know how I can help and support. And to the Centennial faculty and staff, thank you for welcoming me.

I’ve felt so embraced already, and I’m just really excited to do the best work with the best people.

Wendy Dau: Well, we are so lucky to have you at Centennial. We’re so lucky to have you on Provo, Sean. Thank you.

Sean Edwards: Holy cow!

Wendy Dau: So thank you so much.

Sean Edwards: Thank you!

Wendy Dau: Thanks 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 podcast. If you have any topics or questions you would like us to discuss on the podcast, please email us podcast@provo.edu.

And don’t forget to join us again next week for another new episode of What’s Up With the Sup. Have a great weekend everyone.