This year, for the first time in over a decade, the Aragon community is welcoming a new Assistant Principal who has never worked for the San Mateo Union High School District.
After former Asst. Principal Joe Mahood retired at the end of the 2015-2016 school year, Lisa Warnke came in to fill his position, coming from her previous role as Asst. Principal for the Galileo Academy for Science and Technology in San Francisco.
“I was doing curriculum and instruction,” Warnke says, “which is what Mr. Berggren does here. Before that, I was a math teacher in San Francisco.”
At Aragon, Warnke is able to return to her roots. She says, “I grew up in the Bay Area. I went to Gunn High School and so it’s fun to be back down the Peninsula and at a similar school [to Gunn].”
Transitioning from an urban school in San Francisco to Aragon, which serves a more suburban community, has been relatively easy for Warnke.
“City schools versus suburban schools are super different, but a lot of things are the same, so it’s been really fun,” she says.
One notable difference between city schools and Aragon is the high school appearance.
Warnke explains, “[Aragon’s] campus is so beautiful, I walk around and there’s grass and greenery everywhere. There’s a pool in center court. It’s pretty crazy, that piece is really different.”
Besides the campus, her role as an assistant principal has changed.
She says, “Although I was an assistant principal at Galileo, the work that I’m overseeing and doing is really different here, so I’m learning a lot.”
Warnke has already started implementing changes at Aragon, specifically regarding technology.
She explains, “I love using technology to help make things faster and easier, so if you ask any of the staff members, I’ve already done some technology things in terms of putting all of our events on a Google Calendar or putting some resources online on Google Drive for them.”
However, Warnke is still taking some time to learn about the school before making significant changes.
Vice Principal Ron Berggren says, “She’s brought a lot of ideas, but she wants to just spend some time watching the school and the campus and seeing how everything works before she starts promoting a whole lot of ideas. She’s doing a very good job of getting around the campus, getting to know the teachers, getting to know the people in the office and getting to know students and getting herself involved in student activities.”
“I think it’s really smart to come into a new place and just listen and ask a lot of questions and learn,” Warnke adds, “The way that I know or the way that I think is best isn’t necessarily the case, so I’m just learning a lot right now.”
The Aragon community has welcomed Warnke with open arms, to help orient her to a new environment.
She says, “Everybody [greets me] and helps me and answers my questions when I seem clueless, [including both] students and staff. I just really appreciate [the help], and I hope that the freshmen and transfer students have felt the same way.”
