By Josh LaBella
Voice Reporter
West Haven High School Principal Dana Paredes knew she wanted to teach by the age of five and started by setting up her stuffed animals and dolls to teach class. She still remembers how cool it was when her grandfather bought her a school desk from Gianotti School when it closed.
The Fairfield University graduate, who was getting calls and visits all throughout the interview, started as an English teacher but later transitioned to teaching Spanish and English as a second language classes. She said in 2007 she became ESL department head but in 2009 she took the opportunity to become acting assistant principal – a year later officially entering the position.
Paredes said she loved teaching because she got to take something she was passionate about, in her case literature, and share it with students. She said she enjoyed coming up with ways to get students engaged with topics such as Shakespeare and the Canterbury Tales.
“I went out of the way, as much as I could, to do things that were out of the box and interactive,” said Paredes, “and make those lessons fun for kids. I absolutely loved teaching.”
Paredes said getting students engaged could be a challenge but it is important to find ways and give them a new opportunity every day. According to Paredes, the difference between being a teacher and being and administrator is that administrators have to look at the big picture.
“Your classroom is very easy to control,” said Paredes. “You have your rules. You have your policies. That’s what you do every day. Being an administrator, especially being principal, there’s almost 200 employees in the building, almost 1600 kids in the building, plus all the parents. So there’s so many moving pieces all the time. So you really have so many balls in the air that you need to be able to juggle and make sure nothing gets missed.”
She said if something gets missed it means a student who is not getting something done for them. The principal said the job is a lot faster paced and higher pressure but there is a greater ability to impact things on a larger scale. She said the transition can be a challenge.
“It is a hard transition because [as a teacher] you have all of your colleagues you talk with and when you’re a teacher you kind of commiserate about things, [and say] ‘If you were an administrator you’d do it this way or that way,”’ said Paredes. “And then you become an administrator and realize it’s not that simple.”
As a lifelong West Haven resident who graduated from the high school in 1997, she said the city school system has been her life for most of her life. Paredes said when her father passed away she decided to go for an open administrative position because the pay raise that came with it would be helpful to her family.
“Looking back, that was a good decision because jobs open when they open,” said Paredes. “And if I hadn’t put in for that job another job didn’t open for quite a while.”
Paredes said anyone who knows her would know that she is a Westie through and through. She said everyone in her family went through the school system going back to her grandfather who graduated in 1929.
“I couldn’t be happier to be in this role and get to lead the largest school in this community,” said Paredes. “I hope I can do everyone proud.”