As the school year kicks off, students are not the only ones settling into fresh routines — two new assistant principals have arrived, ready to make their mark.
Both with ample experience in K-12 education, Assistant Principals Steven Chai and Brandon Emery are new to campus this fall but are already well accustomed to the competitive and fast flowing nature of schools like Portola High, according to Chai. As assistant principals, Chai and Emery assist one another with tasks that the other is unfamiliar with, making for an even smoother transition into campus life.
“Mr. Chai is very loud, and I love that, because he’s very excited and excitable,” Emery said. “I think we are a really good fit, because he’s new to the district, but not new to the job, and I’m new to the job but not new to the district. I’m really excited to kind of continue to grow with him and the rest of the admin team.”
Chai, in particular, accredits the smoothness of integrating into Portola High’s pre-existing student to admin relationship to his previous positions as an educator.
“I was an English learner, so I’m in charge of the English learning language development here,” Chai said. “It’s been fun giving that program leadership and seeing it grow — it’s how we support students that are immigrating here and families that have immigrated here. I’m also in charge of AVID, which deals with first generation college students, which was my circumstance in high school. I just love getting a chance to impact those student populations that I identify with.”
Emery, though new to his job, has experience in IUSD, having worked at Northwood High and South Lake Middle School. He said he sees Portola High’s growing population and evolving identity as exciting opportunities to contribute in his new role.
“I think being in this role is giving me an opportunity to hear from students, hear from teachers, hear from other staff members and the community as to what things we want to identify that we’re proud of, like our pride values, what things we really want to start to consider for the next 10 years and what that looks like and how we continue to shape our identity here,” Emery said.
Because of the new assistant principals’ connection and genuine passion for their work, students have been noticing their efforts, according to junior Steve Kim.
“Whenever I talk to the assistant principals on campus, even just for a second, they always tell personal stories that are still related to us students,” Kim said. “It makes me feel connected to them because it reminds me that they were also once high school students studying and working towards college like us.”
The connection is mutual, as both new assistant principals have found joy in working with Portola High students, according to Chai.
“I love inspiring young people and mentoring young people, and I love the experience of being a part of people achieving goals,” Chai said. “I think that’s the most exciting part of this work.”
