Inside SFPS
Inside SFPS
Episode 9: Keep the Passion Alive (feat. Principal Georgia Baca)
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On this episode of Inside SFPS, we welcome Ms. Georgia Baca! Ms. Baca is the former principal at E.J. Martinez Elementary and newly named principal at Milagro Middle School! We talk about the transition to Milagro and what she looks to accomplish, standards-based teaching and learning, and so much more!
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Welcome back to another episode of Inside SFPS. My name is Cody Janarski, Public Information Officer with Santa Fe Public Schools. And today I am joined by Miss Georgia Bacca. Ms. Baca, how are you today?
SPEAKER_01Good. How are you?
SPEAKER_00I'm doing good, thanks. So uh I'm really excited. It just came out a few days ago after recording this that you were named the new principal at Malagro Middle School. How so excited. Super exciting. How when you found out that you were gonna become the principal of Malagro, what was your first kind of reaction?
SPEAKER_02It was bittersweet. I mean, I miss I've been at an elementary school, so I miss the junior high kids. I was just right away, even when I interviewed, starting to think of if I get the job, what am I gonna do? How am I gonna, you know, go in there and and uh get to know the school and the kids and the teachers? So even before I knew I had the job, I was already kind of thinking of things uh to implement when I got here.
SPEAKER_00Starting to plan ahead a little bit. Absolutely and uh thinking it into existence. Yep. But this isn't your first time with middle school students because you did spend a couple years at Ortiz, right?
SPEAKER_02Yes, I was two years at Ortiz and loved every minute of it. I was athletic director, um, testing coordinator, um in charge of some teachers. Uh I did a lot, um, but I really fell in love with the age group because uh I came from an elementary school and I taught kindergarten. So I thought I was afraid of those older kids, and I actually fell in love with them. So I'm excited.
SPEAKER_00I give credit to middle school teachers because that is I know my middle school years were probably not my best years, so anyone that would put up with me during those years, I give them all the credit in the world. Absolutely. Um, so let's start back a little bit further. So you grew up in Santa Fe, you're native here in Santa Fe, correct? Yes. And then did you go to SFPS?
SPEAKER_02I did. I was at Pignon Elementary School, went to Capshaw Junior High, then Capital. I was uh uh when Capital opened, um, I was a freshman. So I was the first four-year graduating class in 1992.
SPEAKER_00Oh wow. Yeah. Oh wow, super cool. Were you at Pignon? Was Miss Devoty there at that time?
SPEAKER_02No, she wasn't there.
SPEAKER_00Not yet. Not yet. And then after Capital, you went to UNM. And was education what you would always wanted to do?
SPEAKER_02So actually, I wanted to be an ophthalmologist. Oh wow. Yeah. And um, I was actually getting ready to apply to optometry school. And my parents had said, we'll give you money to apply for five schools, and the rest is up to you. So I said, All right, but the more I thought about it, I had been with one of my colleagues. Uh, we had gone to schools to volunteer, and I just fell in love with the kids. So I ended up telling my parents, I'm gonna switch up. Like I love these kids, and I was doing the ophthalmology for all of the wrong reasons. Um, and so I changed and I ended up staying in school, getting my master's right away, and then um started teaching here in Santa Fe.
SPEAKER_00Oh wow. So you were you already in like taking classes for that before you made the switch, or did you make the switch before you got to school?
SPEAKER_02No, I I did it during. So I was getting my biology degree and then I switched.
SPEAKER_00Oh wow. So yeah, pretty crazy. That's awesome though. And you know, like you had mentioned, you know, you were getting that degree for all the wrong reasons, and I think everyone has kind of gone down that path. I mean, when I before I probably middle of high school, I wanted to be a radiologist, but it was 100% for the wrong reasons. Yeah. And then, you know, time came and I'm at where I'm at, where I'm at. But, you know, I I I definitely think a lot of people have been down this path before.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it just wasn't in my heart. It wasn't my passion. And and um working with kids and volunteering, um, that's where I found that I was kind of at peace and actually um excited to be in that place.
SPEAKER_00So and then after you graduated, you got your master's, did you go right into a classroom or what what happened in that transition between I did.
SPEAKER_02I went right into a classroom. I was at Salazar Elementary School. Uh second grade was my first uh grade that I taught. And then yeah, I stayed there for a couple of years and then I moved to Latagoita Elementary School and I was there for five years. And from there, when they consolidated Latagoita into Aspen, um I left and I was uh an administrator at Sweeney and I was there for five years. And then from Sweeney, I went to Salazar for two years. I was a principal there. And then after Salazar, I went to Ortiz for two years. And since Ortiz, I've been at EJ Martinez.
SPEAKER_00Where did you teach with Deputy Superintendent Romero?
SPEAKER_02At I taught with her at Laragoita Elementary School.
SPEAKER_00At Laragoita. She told me a funny story, and if she's listening, I apologize for telling your story, but um I think I I think it's relevant. I think I can tell it. Is it?
SPEAKER_02I think we'll go let me hear.
SPEAKER_00It was about it was her first day teaching kindergarten and she was trying to get all the kids in a line and they didn't know. And she ran over to your classroom and she's like, How do they get in a line? Whatever. And you're like, you gotta teach them. But I think that's very interesting. And the reason I bring that up is because in kindergarten, that's such a uh unique, I mean, it's the first year in school. Most of these kids, if they didn't go to pre-K or you know, they went to pre-K, Kinder is the first real, like, super structured year of their schooling, and you have to teach them all those things. I think that's really interesting. Can you talk a little bit about teaching kindergarten and and what teaching four and five-year-olds like?
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. Back then when Miss Vanessa and I taught uh Miss Romero, my apologies, when we taught uh kindergarten, um, she had moved from second grade. And back then, preschool wasn't the thing here in Santa Fe Public Schools. Um, if you did preschool, it was private. Um, so when we'd get kids, it was their first experience. And she did come over to my class, but she didn't, she failed to tell you she had her hands in her hair, and she was like, How do I get them to line up? And I said, You have to teach them everything. So, you know, teaching four and five-year-olds, I always make a joke, like it's like hurting cats on a waterbed because they're all over the place. They just need that love and structure and routine. Um, and then they get it. And I I used to feel like I loved making that progress with them because there's so much growth in that, you know, when they're five years old, there's so much growth. And I thought that was it. Like I thought I'm never leaving this classroom. And and I did. Um, like I said, it was always scary when I moved to junior high. I was like, I can't do this. And I absolutely fell in love with them. So I think as an educator, if your heart is there, you can be with any group of kids to make a difference in their lives.
SPEAKER_00What is that transition like? Because for someone like me who doesn't have an education background, and anyone that listens to the podcast consistently hears that from me all the time, and I apologize for bringing it up all the time, but what is that transition like? Because jumping from four and five year olds in kindergarten to essentially teenagers in middle school, that's gotta be a pretty big jump because you're going from teaching kids how to stand in line to preparing them to be young adults. What is that transition like, especially you're not going K1, two, three, kind of growing up with them. You're just making that jump. What is that jump like?
SPEAKER_02So that jump, it's it's two years, right? We're gonna have two years with them. So just to try and make the most impact, really teaching them, treating them like young adults, letting them know that their their actions, there are consequences for every action, um, good or bad, and just trying to hold them accountable to to their own learning and really having them make that connection that the things that they do and the things that they're learning are going to be beneficial for them, you know, later in life. Junior high is a a beast of its own. I mean, the kids are in transition, you know, hormonally, um, physically, but I think that if they're treated with respect and with love, that they will usually perform. So I that's that's what I bring is I love kids for like I always tell kids when they come in my office, it doesn't matter to me what you have done. If you're honest about it, I will help you. Like I will help you um serve your consequence, um, realize what you did and how it impacted others, and talk about how we're gonna fix this.
SPEAKER_00So and I think that's so refreshing because at least from the generation that I grew up in, it was very like you did something wrong, you're bad, you're labeled as a bad kid, or you fall into like this group and you almost can never dig yourself out of that hole. Because you know, good kids make bad mistakes, and it it's you know, that's why they're a mistake and you and you learn from it. So to hear that is very refreshing because too many people will almost hold grudges, and even if you're honest, you get punished for being honest.
SPEAKER_02Um, and I'm a firm believer in that because as adults we make mistakes. And um, you know, I always tell teachers sometimes teachers get upset with me. Uh that's one feedback, some feedback that I've gotten because I don't immediately go to suspend a kid because I want to talk with the kid. I want not that there's ever an excuse to be rude or disrespectful, but I want to hear them out. I want them to fully understand what they did because it's so easy to suspend a child, but they come back the next day or five days later or 10, however long you suspend them, they're gonna come back the same unless you've put some work into it. So that's where I come from is like putting in that work, talking to them. I've already asked here at Milagro. I want the names of some kids that were, you know, in the office a lot because I want to connect with them this summer. I want to just talk to them, like show them that I care and and let them know that they're not a bad kid, that they may have made bad choices in the past, but that we start fresh every day.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And that reminds me a lot of like a restorative justice kind of approach where it's not about punishment, but it's about growth. And a lot of times these kids, you know, especially if they come from a background of trauma or, you know, depending on how they grow up, they don't necessarily understand what they did wrong or how they could have handled it, or sitting back or whatever. And like you had mentioned, with middle schoolers, they have so much going on in transition and hormones and all of that that sometimes they're not thinking straight and they make rash judgments and decisions, and that can lead to poor consequences. So I I think it's super refreshing to hear, and especially for a new principal uh at Malagro, you know, hopefully anyone listening that has a child at Malagro um is listening to this and and you know, taking that in for what it is. Um, so with that, let's back up a little bit more. I know we keep kind of moving forward into Malagro. No, it's all good because I jumped ahead uh with your time at Largoite. So with your when you transitioned into admin, was that a difficult transition for you? Because I know a lot of people they fall in love with the classroom, they fall in love with the kids, and that that transition into admin is really difficult. Was it tough for you?
SPEAKER_02So it was it wasn't tough at all. I thought, you know, I can make a greater impact. If I did this with my class, I could do this with the school. And for a couple of years, you know, you are just pushing through and you're like, oh, I'm gonna be this change, right? Which is true. But you lose for me, I see what you're saying, you lose that um closeness with your class. Like I knew every one of my students' uh names, their parents, the car they drove, their grandparents, whoever picked them up. So the relationship is different when you're dealing with a whole school. Yes, you know the kids' names, but you don't know them as deep and as intimate as you do when you're a classroom teacher. So I I do I have missed the classroom, and that's the reason is those relationships that I've built. So that that was hard, but I didn't really realize that till I was like four or five years in that it's like, hey, like I miss that. I miss that connection with families every day, you know. Usually it's a principal, you make different calls to the house, and your relationship is a little bit different. So that's the thing that I missed was the relationship piece.
SPEAKER_00I know you've worked really hard on that though, especially when you were at EJ. Um, since we made the transition to remind, I get all the reminds that go out school-wide. And I always saw EJ coming up almost daily, which is which was great to see for me because communication with parents is huge, you know, with my background in communication and and almost essentially community relations. Seeing that you were reaching out to families every day, just letting them know, like, hey, we have this coming up or this was so great to see because you knew that families were engaged and you were providing them everything that they could want to be successful for them as parents and and for their students. In between, I know you were at Ortiz, and while you weren't the principal there, are there any lessons from your time at Ortiz that you are going to bring to Malagro or something that you learned while you were at Ortiz that you will now bring with your time here at Malagro?
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. I think with every experience you carry that with you in good or bad, the good, the bad, and the ugly, you always have with you. I loved my time at Ortiz. I had a great leader to to learn from. Felicia Senna was the principal at the time. Like I said, and still is, yes. And, you know, I learned so much from that experience and learning from her moving from an elementary to a junior high. Like I said, I was in charge of discipline. I was in charge of different things than she was. But for me, the biggest thing was the the relationship building with the kids. I loved spending that time with them. So, you know, I'm gonna bring with me just the love of that age of kids and really talking to the kids about what they like, right? Because it's always us making the decisions for them. So really allowing them to maybe have a voice and just thinking through how can we make that happen and um just giving them a voice, I think.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Would you say that's kind of one of the I know I know you've only known about becoming the principal at Malagro for, you know, a week or so now. So you probably haven't given too much thought to all the things that you want to do while you're here. But would you say that's kind of one of the bigger things that you want to accomplish while you're here, especially in your first year, is kind of giving students a voice and and hearing what they want because, like you had said, the adults tend to make all the decisions for them.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. And I'm working with um the restorative justice powers that be at the district level. Um, I know they hired a new person, Mariah. She's gonna be housed here at uh Milagro, so I'm super excited about that because I want to do a lot of work with her. We have we're a communities in the schools school and we're a community school. So we have a lot of support. I think there's there's a lot of ideas going out around, um, but I want to hear from the kids. I think that's, you know, getting to know the kids is gonna be my priority this year and the teachers, you know. I want to hear what people think, the positives and negatives, and what they feel needs to change. I know that after speaking with my leadership team, it's about consistency. So, you know, that's gonna be kind of the focus is being consistent, regardless if it's seventh or eighth grade or team A or team B or X or Y. Just the consistency across the board and treating kids like little adults.
SPEAKER_00What are you most excited about for your start here?
SPEAKER_02Just everything. I mean, I'm on overload right now. I've met with like 15 teachers already, so I'm just listening. And so I'm way excited, but I'm also just like I said, on overload. It's only been a week and I've met with so many people with so many different ideas and so many different wants and needs that uh I I still am in the processing mode where I'm still kind of just taking everything they've shared with me and thinking, okay, what is my next move or what what am I going to do next? So sorry that I couldn't really answer that, but I'm I'm like on overload right now and processing.
SPEAKER_00No, I totally understand. So coming from EJ to Malagro, bringing up standards-based teaching and learning, which is the the switch that we're making. EJ was a pathway one, which means EJ is going to start with everything next year. Malagro is pathway one. Standards is really exciting across the district, and we've done a few podcasts and I've talked about it with a few people on the show. Um, but I wanted to talk with you about the difference that you think it will make as a principal, uh, both at an elementary school and now at the middle school. What difference standards-based teaching and learning and standards-based grading will make on students and and kind of how I'm being biased here, but how we think it's gonna benefit them because I we do really think that it's going to allow students to understand better and and get essentially better grades.
SPEAKER_02Well, I love standards-based grading, first of all. I think that kids are gonna have the opportunity to clearly know what they're learning, why they're learning it, and how we know they're gonna they're gonna learn it, right? So there's gonna be clear expectations for them. Um, I think that when kids know what they're doing and what the expectation is, then they can meet that. It's when it's just a lesson and very vague, they don't know. So you go into a class and you say, What are you learning? The kids shrug their shoulders or they say, Hmm, we're doing this page, right? So I think with standards-based grading, it's gonna be very specific when you walk into a class. I'm gonna be able to ask kids like, Hey, what are you learning today? And they should be able to specifically say what they're working on, what skill they're working on that day. Um, that's tied to a standard, to the standards. So I think, you know, it's gonna be clear for the students and it's gonna be clear for parents. I have a student now that is um my own child and he's in high school and he's a straight A student. But I don't know what he knows and what he doesn't know as and I'm an educator, right? I just assume that wow, he's a 4.0 or 4.4 or whatever he is. You know, he's doing great. But I don't know specifically. I know he's not perfect, but I don't know what to work with him at home or what to support him with at home. So I think for parents, it's gonna be a little bit more clear. Of course, this first year I think a lot of educating the parents and the students to be able to talk to their parents about it. But we're in this together, so I think it's it's it's really cool because we can reach out to other schools that are doing it and have family nights to really share with parents the the importance of this.
SPEAKER_00So I think that's what I'm really excited about to see is like the proficiency scale and having the clear target objectives of if I can do X, Y, and Z, I'm a three. If I can do X, Y, I'm a two. And there's clear criteria that you have to meet to be graded. And I always I use this example all the time is if I get a B on a paper and it it has a few crosses, it has an X, it has, you know, some red marking on it, and then a B with a circle. What does that tell me as a student? It tells me I'm a B. Exactly. It says, Oh, I shouldn't have done that, that word's not right, and that period or comma shouldn't have been there. And with standards, what really excites me is that you're really can hone in on what you're good at, what you're not good at, and where you need to put your focus. And I, executive director of curriculum instruction, Peter McWain, always brings up that people say that they're not math people. And it it's not true, it's a mindset. They don't know math right, or they haven't or they don't know what they what they can and can't do. You might be really good at figuring out like regular problems, like two times two. But when you have Johnny has two apples and his two friends have two more apples, how many apples do they have? You might not be good at word problems, but you might be good at doing the actual equation. So now with standards, you might be a four at whatever standard that equation is, but when it comes to word problems, you might not be as good. But now you know, well, I'm not good at word problems, so I can focus on this. Exactly. I think that's really great. And I know it's been a little bit of a transition, and I know you have a story that that you tend to use. I've heard it a few times. Um so if you want to share that, because I think it's a really good kind of description of how standards-based teaching and learning should function and should work.
SPEAKER_02So the way I I explained it to my teachers to try and get them to shift their thinking is yes, you put in grades, like when you introduce something, a kid might get a D or an F, right? But if you pull small groups and you meet with them and you teach them and they learn it, by the end of the lesson, if they're getting A's and Bs, does that kid deserve the F and the D to be averaged in with the A and B? I mean, the end product, if they know it, they know it. So I used the example of their evaluation system. If a teacher's new and she's learning, she or he or is learning. And I go in the classroom and it's not that great, and they get a score of maybe a one or a two. And after coaching and getting support from district staff, they are at the end of the year maybe a three or a four. Should I average in that one and two at the beginning of the year? I don't think so. So it really shifted for the teachers when I explained it to them that way, because if you know it at the end, you know it. So you shouldn't be penalized for those practice, the practice sessions at the beginning. So I I love that example for teachers, but I think for parents as well, I think it they'll understand it a little bit better. Um, and kids will know, like, hey, it's okay to make a couple mistakes, but if I really focus and learn this, then I know that I know it when I can do X, Y, and Z.
SPEAKER_00So you're focused on learning it and not just doing it. Doing it, right? A compliance piece. Yep, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02Also explaining to them the relevance, right? Why? Why am I learning this? Because a lot of kids say, What do I need this for? What am I gonna need this for in life?
SPEAKER_00And and so many times too, there's bigger lessons to be learned outside of just what you're exactly doing. The example that I think of that comes to my head is like pre-calc when you're in like the upper upper grades. When I was in pre-calc, I was totally the kid that was like, what do I need this for? I'm never gonna use pre-calc. I take pictures and videos. Like, what what is this benefit me? But there is benefit. It's advanced problem solving, it's sequential problem solving, it's it's some of these other lessons that you don't realize that you're learning. You know, it's not just about solving an equation, it's about how you get to it, how you identify the variable or how you identify this, and that can be transferred to real life. And I think that's where we as students and as people sometimes forget that what we learn in school isn't just, you know, X plus Y equals Z. Absolutely. It's the problem solving that goes into it, identifying certain aspects of the problem or the equation, and that's the real world stuff that you're gonna take away. Thank you so much for joining me today. I really appreciate it. I appreciate the conversation. So to end the episode, I'm gonna ask you the question that I've asked all of my guests. What is the best piece of advice or guidance that you have received from a teacher?
SPEAKER_02Um, I think the best piece of advice would be to keep the passion alive, to continue doing what I'm doing with the heart uh that I do it with. So that's it.
