Ron Berggren, assistant principal and former social studies teacher, will retire after working at Aragon for 10 years. Berggren said he has been considering retirement for some time.
“I could stay [in my position] as long as I wanted to,” he said, “[but] it’s time. I’ve been talking it over with my wife for a couple of years.”
Scholarship and Financial Aid Advisor Caroline Moala was surprised after Berggren announced his retirement.
“At first I was sad because I don’t want him to leave us,” Moala said. “[He] keeps our office pretty ‘lit.’ [But] while we were talking about his retirement, he mentioned, ‘It’s all about the quality of life.’ I’m so I’m happy for him, [and] he deserves to enjoy life to its fullest.”
Administrative Assistant Becky Foster thinks Aragon’s staff is well equipped enough to work despite Berggren’s absence.
“He’s been a nice addition to our staff, is very dependable and has run our master schedule and our testing perfectly,” Foster said. “I think sometimes change is good, and I think we have a very successful staff and we will continue on. But I can see him coming back and rooting for the Aragon Dons.”
Berggren has enjoyed his work and feels that his time at Aragon has been memorable.
“One of the things that I really like about high school is that students find their interests, they find their passions, and they develop them during [these] years,” Berggren said. “I [got] a chance to build relationships with students, see how they work — not only in the classroom, but in, say it’s a team sport, or an individual sport, or their participation in a orchestra concert, or participation in drama. It’s fun to see students move from freshman year to senior year and see how students develop.”
Berggren also advised the sophomore class council.
Sophomore class president Kaitlyn Duong has worked with him throughout the year and believes his work sometimes goes unnoticed.
“I had to leave early from coat check [for prom], and he literally came out of the prom venue with me to make sure I got in the car safely,” Duong said. “He does a lot of things that — especially with the AP tests — we don’t know about.”
Similarly, Moala has observed his dedication outside of school hours.
“He’s always on campus in the early hours before school and stays late in the evenings for parent group meetings and sports games, even attending school events on weekends,” Moala said. “I don’t know how he makes time for his family when he’s always serving and supporting our school and students. Mr. Berggren exemplifies ‘service before self.’”
Berggren worked at several other schools and taught social studies at Aragon prior to his promotion to assistant principal.
History teacher Jayson Estassi likes discussing with Berggren about their shared experiences teaching the same subject.
“I always enjoyed having him in my classroom because he was a history teacher,” Estassi said. “[H]e taught U.S. history, [and] I teach U.S. history, so I always enjoyed talking with him.”
While Berggren has no definite plans after retirement, he would like to volunteer.
“I love teaching. I love being in the classroom,” Berggren said. “I have a daughter that teaches third grade in East Palo Alto, [and there’s] the possibility of helping her out and some of her classes. I also want to look at some other programs around the Bay Area focusing on underrepresented students.”
Berggren believes Aragon’s faculty and students are its best quality, ranking it favorably among all the places he has worked.
“I’m a little biased, but I like this school the best,” Berggren said. “This has been a great place to work.”
