Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Super-intentions: Superintendent Johanna Vandermolen, who started work last month, came from the Acalanes School District in the East Bay.
Vandermolen isn't afraid of unknown
New Superintendent for CUSD has worked as principal and curriculum director
By Steven Raphael
It was 1977, and a federal mandate requiring schools to desegregate had just been enacted. Consequently, the students at the predominantly black school in Fresno Unified School District where Johanna Vandermolen was teaching were going to be bused across town to a desegregated middle school.
"A lot of them were scared. They had never been out of that part of town," she said. "So I went with them."
Vandermolen took her teaching experience up to the next level. She became district staff development coordinator, setting up programs and doing general district management.
"It was rewarding in many ways because the kids came with me," she said. "So, in a sense, I had a connection with them."
It was a brave move during a controversial time, but that's characteristic of the 51-year-old educator. Throughout her career, Vandermolen has never been afraid to explore the unknown.
She's worked in practically every position within education, including as a principal, director of curriculum, and superintendent. But, she's never lost sight of the reason why she became involved in education: students. She still makes an effort to maintain a direct connection with students, by visiting campuses and teaching a college course in her spare time.
"After I earned my doctorate, I decided that I was not going to leave teaching," she said. "I don't want to lose that part of what the job is all about."
That emphasis on students is echoed by CUSD, said Vandermolen. While other districts have many goals, she said, for CUSD, providing the best education possible to students is the only goal. Everything else is secondary.
Along with the district's focus on using technology to enhance education, their student-centered approach was what ultimately led Vandermolen to Campbell.
"I had not been in the hunt for a superintendent position," she said. "When this opened, it just seemed like the perfect fit for my thinking."
One CUSD practice that Vandermolen supports is the routine use of test scores by teachers. This allows teachers to tailor education to the needs of students. According to Vandermolen, starting this year, CUSD teachers will have access to test scores all year long and can follow the progress of each student.
She hopes to expand this program in the future, allowing parents to monitor those scores, as well.
The new superintendent works long hours to make these visions come true. Her walls are decorated with school-related items: a school bus, a DARE bear and a golden carving of the word READ. She likes the office to feel homey, because she spends so much of her time there.
"There's never a 40-hour week," she said. "My job is to make sure all the departments function hand-in-hand, and to make sure they keep focusing on student learning," she said.
Fortunately for Vandermolen, her predecessor, Marsha Plumleigh, left the district in good shape. Vandermolen describes CUSD's test scores over the year with an upward swoop of her hand, signifying increasing test scores. Then, with an up-and-down, zig-zagging motion, she signifies the fluctuation of scores that is the norm.
"We're making the right decisions in this district to improve student learning," she said.
And furthermore, everyone in the district seems to enjoy working at CUSD, Vandermolen explained.
"One thing that really impressed me when I got here," she said, "there's a uniform voice out here in this district that says, 'I love this district!'"
Vandermolen is quickly learning to share those sentiments. But, before embarking on the adventure of leading CUSD, she recently had an adventure of a radically different sort.
Deep in the heart of Africa, it was the middle of the night and so quiet that the two Americans noticed the sound of their own breathing. Suddenly, out of the darkness, hundreds of eyes appeared, reflecting a glimmer of light as they charged toward the jeep where the Americans sat with their guide.
Within moments, the pack of wildebeests passed the jeep, closely followed by a pride of hungry lions. The guide skillfully trailed them, and, just a couple weeks before she began her new position as CUSD superintendent, Vandermolen watched nature in all its glory: the lions feasted that night, and Vandermolen had a front row seat.
"It was great to see," she said. "But I had to talk myself through it, to say, 'this is nature.' Because, I wanted to say, 'This is cruel. Make him stop.'"
Campbell, California
