Meeting Challenges
My administrative career began in 2013, when I was offered the role of the Academic Project Manager for SCYE Global. In 2013, I admit, administration was not an immediate consideration for me - I considered this to be an opportunity to grow my potential and future career prospects - and like many other leaders I have met throughout my years in Asia, it began unexpectedly. I used to believe that I was offered this role after building myself up to be a problem-solver and a reliable educator with the organization. A decade of reflection later, I now know that the features that were seen in me to afford me this opportunity were; a technical mind for planning, a vision for goals, and the application of my education to those skills to foster the growth of projects from "possible" to "complete". The role I played did inspire me enough to begin my degree in Education Administration with Grand Canyon University. I was learning every day from not only my degree, but also from the projects I was working on which ranged from small schedule rearrangements in the FELDA college to proposals for the Indonesian, Brunei, and Malaysian governments. Though, in the end, I needed to leave Malaysia in order to complete my degree, this was the experience that would cause a domino effect change in the course of my life.
In 2017, though employed as a social studies teacher with the organization, when a change in the school's organizational structure called for me to step up, I took on the role of the Dean of Students with Saint Paul American School. Through the merit of my efforts over the following three years in that role, I was offered the opportunity of becoming the Curriculum Development Specialist for Saint Paul American School System. And then in April 2020, during the height of the COVID19 Pandemic, I was called upon to complete an emergency contract to return to Beijing's Saint Paul American School to step into the role of School Principal of three programs: Saint Paul American School, Saint Paul American School: Online, and the attached Two Plus One Program. With consistent effort and a goal mindset, I was able to steer these programs out of the uncertainty of the pandemic and plant them firmly back on their feet. I left the position, having fulfilled my goals in a year and a half, with full enrollment, high retention for teachers, and systems in place that would leave the school in an a pre-COVID state of healthy operation.
After a year and a half as the Principal of these programs, and after strengthening their base, I stepped aside for a new administrator more rooted in Beijing. I quickly found a short-term project in Tokyo, at the United School of Tokyo, as the Founding Principal of the middle school program, and very much enjoyed a new challenge. The experience would play a role in my career at my current position with Saint Paul American Scholars, as School Principal where I oversee two elementary schools and secondary school program with the assistance of three Vice Principals. With the secondary program maturing, expanding, and finding a new location to take a foothold, it has brought to bear all of my past experiences and I face a new challenge – being the School Principal of three campuses and three separate, but academically linked, programs.
In 2017, though employed as a social studies teacher with the organization, when a change in the school's organizational structure called for me to step up, I took on the role of the Dean of Students with Saint Paul American School. Through the merit of my efforts over the following three years in that role, I was offered the opportunity of becoming the Curriculum Development Specialist for Saint Paul American School System. And then in April 2020, during the height of the COVID19 Pandemic, I was called upon to complete an emergency contract to return to Beijing's Saint Paul American School to step into the role of School Principal of three programs: Saint Paul American School, Saint Paul American School: Online, and the attached Two Plus One Program. With consistent effort and a goal mindset, I was able to steer these programs out of the uncertainty of the pandemic and plant them firmly back on their feet. I left the position, having fulfilled my goals in a year and a half, with full enrollment, high retention for teachers, and systems in place that would leave the school in an a pre-COVID state of healthy operation.
After a year and a half as the Principal of these programs, and after strengthening their base, I stepped aside for a new administrator more rooted in Beijing. I quickly found a short-term project in Tokyo, at the United School of Tokyo, as the Founding Principal of the middle school program, and very much enjoyed a new challenge. The experience would play a role in my career at my current position with Saint Paul American Scholars, as School Principal where I oversee two elementary schools and secondary school program with the assistance of three Vice Principals. With the secondary program maturing, expanding, and finding a new location to take a foothold, it has brought to bear all of my past experiences and I face a new challenge – being the School Principal of three campuses and three separate, but academically linked, programs.
School Principal
Saint Paul American Scholars
– Bundang, Gwanggyo & Dongtan , South Korea
– Bundang, Gwanggyo & Dongtan , South Korea
- Grades 1-11
- Common Core, AERO, and NGSS for core class instruction
- Accreditation lead for Cognia, MSA, Ai, & NCPSA
- Adopted PreAP curriculum
- Expansion of the secondary program, G6-12, in a new Bundang location in the 2023-2024 school year
- Member of the team establishing the upcoming Ansan expansion (opening 2025)
- Expanded duties to three of the Saint Paul Scholars campuses
- Designed or major revisions of the logistics and structure of both the elementary and secondary program
- RenWeb administrative duties
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Impact
- Founding Principal of the Bundang Secondary Campus and rapidly growing the student population
- Adoptions of PreAP and AP for Bundang, and Standards-Based Grading for Dongtan and Gwanggyo
- Established dual-track diploma system: STEM/STEAM for introduction in the 2025-2026 school year
Founding Middle School Principal
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United School of Tokyo
– Tokyo, Japan
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Impact
- Founding Principal of the UST Middle School Program
- Co-author of the UST Middle School Framework in collaboration with the Academic Director
- Advancement of the UST application with WASC for readiness for the 2022-2023 school year
School Principal
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Impact
- Guided the school through the COVID19 pandemic and grew student numbers above normal enrollment
- Built and maintained a remote learning system for students trapped outside of China for international students
- Strengthened the TPO Program by building leadership and guidance with a Head Teacher
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Curriculum Development Specialist
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Vice Principal & Dean of Students
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Impact
- Creation of the SPAS Houses and the Positive Behavior System, replacing negative behaviors with positive incentives
- Reduction of documented negative behaviors in a student population of 260 from 2,700 to 270
- Creation of weekly and regular campus life events, Student Council leadership, and dorm life reformations for boarders
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Academic Project Manager
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