After six years in the Aragon administration, Assistant Principal Lisa Nagendran is planning to officially resign on June 30 and is on leave to spend time with her growing family.
“I have a two-year-old and I’m going to have a baby next month, so things are very busy [at] home,” Nagendran said. “My family is also considering a move to Portland, so it seems good to take time off and figure out what I’m going to do next after the kids are a bit older.”
Nagendran’s jobs have included scheduling, assigning academic counselors, planning graduation, approving field trips, communicating with families and organizing shadowing procedures.
Shadowing refers to when prospective freshmen tour Aragon with Link Crew Leaders to experience the school environment. In 2018, Nagendran reestablished the school website and contact information to streamline shadowing registrations, increasing the program’s reach and popularity.
During the pandemic, Nagendran organized the 2021 in-person graduation ceremony to ensure it followed COVID-19 health mandates. Currently, she oversees all Tier Two and Tier Three support services. Tier One applies to all students and includes schoolwide campaigns like Aragon CARES, while Tier Two applies to students in wellness groups or intensive Flex Time programs.
Tier Three students have Individualized Education Programs or 504 plans. IEPs are personalized maps for special education systems and instructions for students with disabilities, while 504 plans outline academic modifications for students with disabilities.
“[Nagendran has] made [Aragon] a more equitable place,” said special education and U.S. history teacher Michael Gibbons. “We have a lot more co-taught classes because of her. The curriculum I create with my General Education colleagues ends up [being] used for classes [other than the] co-taught classes. It has increased access for a lot more students than just students with Individualized Education Programs.”
“It’s sad to have a colleague and friend leave, especially when it’s someone who has mentored you and taken you under their wing”
Other staff members who have grown close with Nagendran often express how much they’ve learned from her. Assistant Principal Nicole Elenz-Martin transitioned from Spanish teacher to an Assistant Principal under Nagendran’s guidance.
“It’s sad to have a colleague and friend leave, especially when it’s someone who has mentored you and taken you under their wing,” Elenz-Martin said. “At the same time, I know how important it is for her to take advantage of these years that she has with young kids.”
Staff Secretary Dounia Kardosh has served at Aragon since before Nagendran, working with the previous assistant principal, Joe Mahood. When he retired, Kardosh joined the hiring committee that appointed Nagendran.
“With her being younger and more computer-savvy, I just felt that she had so much to teach me,” Kardosh said. “She’s very smart, so whatever she does [next], she’s going to be a success.”
“She’s very smart, so whatever she does [next], she’s going to be a success”
Nagendran has appreciated the time she’s spent at Aragon.
“I [have] mixed emotions,” Nagendran said. “I feel really happy about the teams and teachers I’ve worked with, and the students that I’ve gotten to know. It’s hard to leave anywhere and change is hard.”
Although Nagendran will resign when her employment term ends in June, she began her maternity leave Jan. 31. In the time being, interim Assistant Principal Paul Robinson will substitute until the end of the 2021-22 school year. He is a retired Saratoga High School principal and has since served as a temporary principal at Los Gatos High School. Assistant principals Elenz-Martin and Juan Flores will also share more flexible responsibilities.
“I’m looking forward to meeting a new person,” said wellness counselor Jillian Ma. “We’ve gone through a lot of changes in the past couple of years, so we’ll run with it. Having new ideas and people coming in can always be good because there’ll be a new perspective.”
Because Robinson can not work for long periods of time in retirement, Aragon administration must look for a long-term assistant principal. They have already started searching for candidates since early February and will be ready to welcome a new assistant principal by the 2022-23 school year.
