After serving as Aragon’s principal for 12 years, Dr. Patricia Kurtz announced her retirement during an all-staff meeting on Feb. 4.
Kurtz made the difficult decision to retire over winter break.
“I’m going to miss everybody. I love coming to school every single day. I love being with all of these students. It’s fun, and I enjoy it,” Kurtz said. “But, it’s also time. I’m getting older and I’d like to be able to travel. As I told my faculty, I’m healthy, so now is a good time to go rather than waiting.”
During her time at Aragon, Kurtz preserved Aragon’s level of excellence.
“She kept Aragon’s pace going,” said Staff Secretary Dounia Kardosh. “She always had an open door with faculty and the connection between the staff and the faculty and parents, so I think she just maintained [the school’s] status and kept it moving ahead. Aragon has just bloomed in the last couple of years.”
Among her accomplishments as principal is helping build and beautify features on campus. Most notably, Kurtz has facilitated the construction of the theater, turf field and CTE wing.
“I’m really proud of it,” Kurtz said. “People [who] walk on campus think it’s a beautiful school, and I think the facilities are wonderful for all of these students.”
Kurtz began as principal in hopes of closing the achievement gap, which is defined as the differences in academic performance between students of different backgrounds.
“We’re not there [yet, but] we continue to work on it,” Kurtz said. “In fact, I think the best movement that we’ve had in the last two or three years, is really looking at the whole child and how we can make connections with students.”
Another of Kurtz’s accomplishments is the creation of Aragon’s Wellness Center, which took two years to establish.
“I’m so excited that it’s in one place,” Kurtz said. “It’s somewhat confidential for students — they can walk in, it’s a quiet space, they can chill for a little bit if they need to, and in the way, I look at it, I feel like we all need time to chill.”
Born and raised on the East Coast, Kurtz moved to the Bay Area after graduating college, working at the County of Education and district office on various projects before replacing then Principal Kirk Black in 2008.
“Back when she came from the district office, there was a smooth transition [and] there weren’t major changes,” Kardosh said. “She just slowly and eventually floated into the way the school runs. She was very calm, cool and collected.”
As a recent hire, English teacher Sara Kixmoeller feels that Kurtz has always been supportive of new teachers.
“She’s been very involved with helping me decide what’s appropriate to meet my goals as a teacher,” Kixmoeller said. “She’s very good at helping you integrate into the existing community, but she’s also really good at seeing your individual potential and encouraging you to contribute your ideas to the larger community.”
When Kurtz offered Assistant Principal Juan Flores a position at Aragon, he felt welcomed by her sincerity and professionalism.
“I had other opportunities but when she called, she knew a lot about my background and made me feel like I belonged here,” Flores said. “As a first-generation Latino who grew up in poverty, I was in tears of joy when I had the opportunity to work for such a great school and district. I felt that my sacrifices and experiences were finally validated.”
History teacher William Colglazier appreciates Kurtz’s abilities as a personable leader.
“She’s a good person. Whenever I’ve met with her about evaluations, she always stops to say, ‘How are you doing?’” Colglazier said. “She doesn’t see [staff] as cogs in a wheel. She sees our whole person and I think that’s a [quality in a] good leader.”
Colleagues and students alike will miss Kurtz.
“She [leaves] big shoes to fill,” said Administrative Assistant Becky Foster. “She’s very well respected by the staff and students that I think that it just is going to take that very special new principal to kind of step into her office.”
Once Aragon begins the process of appointing a new principal, teachers, parents and students will be able to provide their input.
Additional reporting by Kayla Li and Kayla Shiao
