It takes several minutes for Shar Santos to make her way through the students’ lunch area at Brook Knoll Elementary School. Every few steps, children run up their former teacher and newly minted principal — “Ms. Santos, Ms. Santos!” — for a quick hug or a friendly hello.
That sense of community is one of Brook Knoll’s greatest attributes, said Santos, who was selected out of 38 candidates by the Scotts Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees to permanently succeed Phillip Menchaca as principal.
“It’s one of the most exciting times in my life right now,” Santos said. “I’m very, very grateful to be here.”
The Scotts Valley native, who attended Brook Knoll as a child, has served as interim principal since January and will assume permanent status in July for the 2012-13 school year.
When Menchaca left Brook Knoll at the end of January to accept a principal’s job with Alum Rock Union Elementary School District in San Jose, Santos had about two weeks to transition out of her fourth-grade classroom and into the captain’s chair, while a substitute was found to teach the class for the rest of the school year.
“It was a profound transition — very bittersweet,” she said. “It was really, really exciting to know I can be a support person in a different role.”
Former principal Cathy Frandle volunteered to familiarize Santos with her new job and ease the transition.
“I was so fortunate to have a great leader in Ms. Frandle,” Santos said.
Santos said that while education was never far from her mind, she initially pursued a career in law, because education career prospects appeared rather bleak while she was studying at the University of Hawaii.
She spent several years working as a legal assistant with the city attorney’s office in San Jose before she got her teaching credential from Bethany College in 1998.
Over the next 13 years, she taught kindergarten and third and fourth grades at Brook Knoll. During that time, she worked toward a master’s degree in educational administration through San Jose State University, which she received in 2009.
Santos said her goal as principal was to continue to advance the school’s standing, both academically and in the community at large.
“You get to hear so many fresh ideas,” she said. “I really see my role as a support person.”
Many of the best programs and amenities at the school, she said, are a result of contributions of time and money from volunteers and parents in all areas of the Scotts Valley community, particularly the Scotts Valley Educational Foundation.
“They really do support us in amazing ways,” she said, citing the school’s gardens, library staff, counselors and playground equipment as examples of what community efforts can achieve. “It’s a feel-good place; it really is.”
Santos acknowledged that being principal comes with difficulties, as the school’s staff tries to find creative ways to ensure a rich, family experience for students and parents while operating on a shoestring budget, but she said she was up for the challenge.
“Personally, I really want to build a community place here,” she said. “That’s one of the true luxuries (of the position).”
