Interim Principal Jones Takes Helm of Palisades Elementary

Although Gracie Jones, the new interim principal at Palisades Elementary, received only a week’s notice before the start of her current job, she quickly got down to business and is calmly getting ready for the school year, beginning September 9. ‘I went on my computer, did due diligence, and pulled up everything I could find about the school,’ says Jones, a 34-year LAUSD employee who, though retired for the past five years, has been working from time to time as an interim principal in various schools. Melissa Newman, who took the helm of the school last year, was reassigned by the district to Melrose Avenue Elementary School. ‘You want the right fit,’ says Robbi Bertz, Director of Elementary Support Services for District 3. ‘The district often reassigns principals for the best fit in the interest of both the school community and the principal.’ Over the summer, a district K (now local district 8) administrator, Colleen Crowley, was assigned to be Palisades Elementary’s new principal, but in mid-August, she decided to retire, leaving the position open. Jones was called in, and the school’s search committee, which includes parents, teachers and administrative staff, is once again preparing to search for a new principal. During her career, Jones was principal at three Westside elementary schools’Nora Sterry, Wilshire Crest and Hillcrest Drive Elementary. Prior to this she was a classroom teacher, reading specialist and assistant principal at the primary school level. She also spent 11 years in the LAUSD’s information technology department. As an administrator in that department, she worked with both business systems and instructional systems, set up the district’s Mac labs and PC labs, and oversaw district training centers to teach software. A technology buff, Jones quickly acquainted herself with the Proposition BB safety and technology project now underway at Palisades Elementary’installing T-1 lines so that every classroom will have Internet access and upgrading the public address system. The work is due to be completed about two months into the school year. Jones was previously interim principal at Brockton Avenue, 98th Street, Overland and Wonderland Avenue schools, with her stay lasting one to two months until each school finished the process of selecting a permanent principal. She generally gets about a week or two notice before her new assignment. ‘You have to learn the climate of every school you go to,’ Jones says. ‘You take ownership of certain things, which makes it challenging. My goal is to get the school opened as calmly as possible, to give the teachers what they need and the students what they need.’ A Los Angeles native, Jones graduated from Manual Arts High School, and received her B.A. from Cal State L.A. and her master’s in urban administration from UCLA. She has spent her entire career in education. ‘I can’t remember ever wanting to do anything else. I was very influenced by my teachers. Several of them helped me discover what I wanted to do and that I could do more than I thought I could do.’ Although she planned to go to college eventually, while in high school she thought she would need to get a job right after graduation. ‘I took classes to help me get a job, such as typing. But my teachers pushed me into AP-style courses. They encouraged me to go to college right away after school.’ Jones is busy this week, attending operations meetings and the Principals Institute, which sets the tone for instruction and expectations for principals this school year. Next week, staff development will take place at the school. Besides working as an interim principal during retirement, Jones has traveled and become knowledgeable about digital photography and video. She says it’s easy for the LAUSD to bring in retired principals as interim principals because they can get things done quickly thanks to their experience. ‘She’ll bring a wealth of knowledge and experience; she was a longstanding successful principal,’ says Bertz.