Episode 92: Meet Provo Peaks Principal, Ryan McCarty

junho 5th, 2025 /
Spencer Tuinei /

Sup com o Sup

00:00 / 14:29

Wendy Dau: Welcome everyone to the next episode of Provo City School District’s what’s up with the Sup podcast. I’m Superintendent Wendy Dau. This week I will be visiting with Ryan McCarty, the new principal at Provo Peaks Elementary, but first, let’s go over the updates.

The next school board meeting is on Tuesday, June 10th.

The study session will begin at 4:00 PM in Boardroom One at the Provo City School District office. The Business meeting will begin at 7:00 PM in the Professional Development Center at the District Office.

Consulte o site do distrito antes da reunião para saber o horário exato e a pauta completa.

Welcome everyone to this week’s episode of What’s Up With the Sup. I am here with Ryan McCarty, who is our new principal here at Provo Peaks Elementary. Thank you so much for being here.

Ryan McCarty: Happy to be here.

Wendy Dau: Just give us a little bit of personal background–

Ryan McCarty: Sure.

Wendy Dau: So people can get to know you a little bit.

You’re now moving to Provo Peaks.

Ryan McCarty: You got it. So I was born in Oregon lived until you know that I was eight.

Wendy Dau: Yeah. That’s awesome.

Ryan McCarty: But mostly feel like I grew up, you know, from eight to 18 in Orem, so not too far down the road. I am married to my wife Amanda for 24 years.

Wendy Dau: Isso é fantástico.

Ryan McCarty: And we have three kids.

My oldest is 20. I have a high school 17-year-old and a junior high. Hitting the teens, 12-year-old.

Wendy Dau: Oh, that’s amazing. That’s a fun time. Yeah. That’s awesome. What made you decide to go into education? Tell us a little bit about that journey.

Ryan McCarty: Sure. Yeah. It was a little bit of a different journey.

In college, studied a lot of different things, kind of trying to figure out what I wanted. And then I kind of zeroed in on wanting to be a child psychologist, actually. And so my undergrad was in neuroscience and psychology. I did a double major. I had a year in between my plans to do grad school and I had volunteered at the state hospital as part of one of my classes in psychology.

And I was fortunate enough to be at the school there at the state hospital. And I just loved it. It was an awesome experience and really felt like I connected with the kids. There was one particular kid that was pretty difficult and I felt like I connected with him and was able to really help him and kind of just saw that light turn on. and– then he was able to figure some things out that he was struggling with and.

And that was just an amazing experience. And so I didn’t know anything of like what the background was of those– I knew it wasn’t a traditional school, right? And so one day I was just kind of like, okay, I gotta figure what I’m gonna do in between this gap year.

And I went into the school and talked to the teacher, I volunteered with and just said, Hey, you know what? Opportunities are there at the school here. And she said, you know what?

Wendy Dau: Interesting.

Ryan McCarty: I am actually leaving and I’m really worried who’s gonna take my class over and I think you should teach my class. And I’m like, okay. Oh, okay.

And so she walked me down to the principal’s office and said. You need to hire him to be a teacher. And I was like, okay. Okay. So then he connected me with Morgan Anderson and I learned that I had to get a license in teaching.

Wendy Dau: Right. I didn’t know that.

Ryan McCarty: And so I actually started teaching before I had taken any educational classes on an alternate route to licensure.

But Morgan helped me to get into BYU’s Special Education Licensure Program. And so I kind of was doing both that teaching and did that program for two years. I ended up being at the state hospital for three total years and kind of just fell in love with teaching, and felt like, you know, that was what I needed to do.

In the back of my mind, I still was wondering if I was gonna go into child psychology. Obviously there’s a lot of overlap. And so I actually applied to a program at the University of Utah and got accepted, but by the time I got accepted into that program, I just knew that I wanted to stay in education.

That was where my heart was at. And so I went to Spring Creek. I was there for three years. And Jarod Sites was my mentor there, who’s now at the district level mentor there. And, he helped me see just the positive impact that a good instructional leader could have at a school.

Yeah. And really motivated me to go into educational administration and, you know, I went to BYU for my Masters and kind of went from there. So.

Wendy Dau: And then you ended up at Amelia and you’re the principal there for over 11 years.

Ryan McCarty: 11 years, yes.

Wendy Dau: Oh my goodness. Yeah.

Ryan McCarty: Roots ran deep there. Yes, for sure.

Wendy Dau: What are you most excited about Provo Peaks, or what have you learned about the community that makes you excited about taking over that school?

Ryan McCarty: You know, it’s, it’s a super unique community. I mean, you have CAS, which is awesome, and I’ve already been able to meet some of the parents there, and learn about the program there.

Super excited about the opportunities there. You have the Severe Special Education classes and I have a background in special education and when I was, I part of my time and my journey, I spent a couple years at Provo High. And so I didn’t teach the severe class, but I worked directly with that class and so feel like I have some good experience there.

So I’m super excited to get to know those kids and work with those kids and teachers. And then uniquely, I actually have been at Provo Peaks as part of my journey bouncing around. Before Amelia, I was at Provo Peaks for one year as the Facilitator.

Wendy Dau: Oh, isso é ótimo.

Ryan McCarty: So I got to know the community there, and it’s an amazing community, and I’m super excited to reconnect with them.

Wendy Dau: So, tell me how you feel like your background in Special Ed has really helped you as an administrator. Because I think it gives you such a unique skillset, and I would love for you to highlight what it brings to the table there.

Ryan McCarty: I’ll say two things.

First is how to break down learning. You know, when you’re working with students with learning disabilities, they’ve had a lot of opportunities of maybe traditional learning and it hasn’t worked sometimes.

Wendy Dau: Sim.

Ryan McCarty: And so you have to really break down the learning concepts to then build them back up to get them back to grade level, right?

And so being able to kind of understand the importance of prerequisite skills and the building blocks of learning, going all the way back to the basics, up to the most complex concepts. I feel like it’s really helped me to dive into that fully. And I think as we work together with our faculty and as that understanding grows collectively, it can really help move kids from where they are to where we want them to be and where they can be.

And then the second thing I think is just the idea of individualization. You know, I mean, yeah. In Special Education, every student has an Individualized Education Plan. And that plan is uniquely tailored for them. And although we don’t formally do that for every kid I strongly believe in that concept, and I like to extend that well beyond just the required, you know, program for those kids in Special Education.

So whether that be like meeting with parents and teachers and creating a individual plan for someone’s behavioral support or emotional support, right? Or whether that be extension opportunities for kids to go higher– I just think that the idea of individualizing an education and not a one size fits all is just kind of core to, I think my– my belief in education.

Wendy Dau: That’s awesome. Tell us what you would love the students at Provo Peaks to know about you as you’re coming in, as their new principal.

Ryan McCarty: Yeah. I love to connect, you know? That was one of the things that I loved at Amelia Earhart. You know, I was there for a long time and really felt like I was connected with the families, the parents, the students.

I really prioritize getting to know kids’ names. I’m gonna jump right into that. I mean. I’m gonna make a lot of mistakes of like calling kids the wrong name ’cause that’s the only way you learn.

Wendy Dau: Isso mesmo.

Ryan McCarty: But I’m gonna just jump full steam into that and get to know the kids. And I just feel like that connection. That idea that there’s someone at school, there’s a lot of people at school, but I’m one of those people at school that care about them, that know about them and want help them be successful. And that’s been really meaningful to me and that’s definitely something I’m super excited to bring to Provo Peaks.

Wendy Dau: Yeah. What do you want the parents to know about you?

Ryan McCarty: Yeah, I have already been fortunate enough to meet with some of the parents at Provo Peak.

Wendy Dau: Ótimo.

Ryan McCarty: I reached out and offered– and the offer still stands for those hearing– if they wanna reach out to me, ryanm@provo.edu if you wanna send me an email and set up a time.

But I’ve already met with some and it’s been amazing. I love meeting one-on-one or you know, with parents and kids and just being able to talk about what are their kind of desires, dreams for their kids, what are the barriers that they see? How can we partner together to make that situation better?

And I love that. I mean, sometimes parents are like, Oh, I’m sorry. No, this is what I love. I love to be able to problem solve with parents and sit down and figure out how we can best meet the needs of their kids. And that goes back to that individualizing. I think that there’s a lot we can do to make the education experience for kids unique to their needs.

Wendy Dau: Tell me a little bit about the transition that you’ve been undergoing. Like how do you step into a new school? How do you figure out what are kind of the sacred cows that you can’t move? Right? And how does that work?

Ryan McCarty: It’s a great question. So. You know, this spring, a lot of times it felt like I was doing two jobs.

Wendy Dau: Yes. ’cause you were.

Ryan McCarty: And so, you know, some– some weeks I was spending about almost half my time at Provo Peaks, because I met with every staff that I could individually.

Wendy Dau: Ótimo.

Ryan McCarty: And so I carved out time to meet one-on-one.

And that was typically the first question I asked. What are the things that you feel are going well that we need to make sure that we keep going?

Wendy Dau: Certo.

Ryan McCarty: ‘Cause I think that’s where we start to build on. Right? And then the conversation went, and I learned a lot about the school and a lot about the things that are important.

And then also gives me an idea of maybe what our next steps are, yeah? What are the next goals and, and priorities that we wanna work on. So yeah, that’d be a big part of that.

Wendy Dau: That is a big part of it. Tell me about, just so that kids can get a sense of like your sense of humor and how you connect with them– share a fun story that you’ve had with a kid or why you to just really convey to them why you care so much about education.

Ryan McCarty: Sure. You know, obviously what I want to help all kids do is to feel safe, feel loved, and then succeed academically. But I feel like it’s, it, it’s a holistic journey.

And so I’ll give an example that’s maybe not directly academic related.

Wendy Dau: Não tem problema.

Ryan McCarty: But I feel that it is a big part of what makes kids feel part of a community at school. So, you know, one of our traditions at Amelia Earhart has been our kickball game.

Wendy Dau: Sim.

Ryan McCarty: And it’s a big deal, right? It’s big deal. It’s a huge deal. And so, you know, kids from like second grade, like, I can’t wait to play in the kickball game. I mean, it’s something they look forward to, right. And so one of the things I do is after spring break I work with getting like, captains, from sixth grade, and they help us, like pick teams. And then during lunch, recess, each day we practice to get ready.

So I’m basically their coach for like the last month of school. And so it’s just a–

Wendy Dau: Isso é fantástico.

Ryan McCarty: Super fun way for me to be. Just super involved and engaged with the kids and to coach ’em and help ’em. And you know, this year they won for the second time.

Wendy Dau: And that– that must be that good coaching that’s coming in there.

Ryan McCarty: They played so amazing. It was so fun.

So again, like whatever it is, I just want to be fully invested, and I want to be with the kids, whether it’s in the classroom out at recess, I feel like the kids, you know, some of the kids wrote some things that were really sweet about just how I would go outta my way to, you know, check in on them and see how they were doing. And it meant a lot that it meant to them.

I know it meant, it means a lot to me, but it was fun to hear from some of the notes I got of how much they recognize and noticed that. ‘Cause that’s exactly what I want. They’re so important. I love them and I want them to feel that.

Wendy Dau: I also have noticed just how much time you spend in classrooms. Like, you’ll go read to kids. You’ll sit down with a group and start working with the kids and helping out and it just brightens their day.

You know every kid by name, you know what their strengths are, you know where they might struggle.

You can just see you’re really tapped into each student in the school. That’s very apparent.

Ryan McCarty: Thank you. That’s that’s really important to me. Thank you.

Wendy Dau: No, it is. And, and you walk the walk. It’s not just something you say that you do. I’ve just witnessed it. And it is also something that the parents at Amelia and your teachers at Amelia have said, like, Ryan is always in our classrooms and not in like that– he’s checking up on me, but he cares about what’s happening, and cares about that great instruction that’s taking place. And so I look forward to that being at Provo Peaks as well.

Ryan McCarty: Yeah, I’m super excited.

Wendy Dau: Just that energy that’s gonna be there– that will be really great. Is there anything else that you would like to share with the Provo Peaks community? Just about you or your philosophy about what you hope to accomplish or, how to put people at ease or, because you know, transitions are always hard.

Ryan McCarty: Totally. It is. It’s hard. So, you know, one thing I feel really strongly about is that, you know, for an organization to become great, there needs to be an open communication.

You know, that’s one thing that I speak a lot about with my teachers is if you’re feeling something, if there’s a concern, come talk to me. Yeah. Like, I want to, I solicit it, you know, I want to seek it because I know that we all have blind spots. We all have, you know, things that we’re not aware of or that we miss.

And, and I feel the same way with parents. I love it when parents, I felt like I built a lot of trust with parents at Amelia. And I want to build that at Provo Peaks where parents can come in and say, hey, I’m concerned about this, or I’m worried about this. And teachers can do that, because that’s how we become great, you know?

Wendy Dau: Sim.

Ryan McCarty: If we kind of keep it to ourselves and just kind of like say, I’ll deal with it, then we never reach that greatness. And I don’t want that. These kids deserve the best. And the only way we can do that is if we have a willingness to have the hard conversations, to give the feedback to each other in a loving way, but directly and openly and transparently.

Wendy Dau: Yeah. And I think that’s how we’re gonna get the best problem solving, right? Yeah. Get people’s concerns addressed. You’re an awesome principal, Ryan. Thank you. Like, no question. And we’re excited to have you at Provo Peaks.

Ryan McCarty: Awesome. Excited to be there. Thank you.

Wendy Dau: Thank you.

Obrigado a todos por participarem do episódio desta semana de What's Up With the Sup. Como sempre, todos os episódios serão publicados no site do distrito, no YouTube e em qualquer lugar onde você receba seu podcast. Se tiver algum tópico ou pergunta que gostaria que discutíssemos no podcast, envie-nos um e-mail para podcast@provo.edu.

E não se esqueça de nos acompanhar na próxima semana para mais um novo episódio de What's Up With the Sup. Tenham todos um ótimo fim de semana.

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