Ryan McDonnell, Trina Dreyer and Luz Lozano have taken new positions as instructional deans at Walnut High School.
As they start the new school year, each dean has met with their department to get to know and collaborate with their colleagues. One-on-one meetings held with staff act as a way to develop connections, understanding and strengthen the sense of community within the staff.
“Everybody’s been super welcoming. For other staff, they have so much change [in their environments and the way they work] by having a whole new leadership team. I think they’ve embraced the change in a really positive way, and they are happy to have a team,” Lozano said.
Ryan McDonnell oversees Career Technical Education (CTE), dual enrollment, special education and Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) programs; Trina Dreyer oversees English, social science, PE/health, PLTW and the English learner programs; and Luz Lozano oversees the science, math and world language departments. However, with new surroundings come new challenges. As they enter a new environment, they have to spend time adjusting not only to the new faces on campus but also to the system the school operates on.
“It’s been okay connecting with the teachers. For me, the challenge is just knowing different things about the school, like the schedule for example. I have to keep looking to see which period we are on now,” Dreyer said.
Each of the deans have been in education for several years. As an alumni of Walnut Valley Unified School District (WVUSD), McDonnell has returned to the district after 20 years of experience in education. In his time in the field, he has taught Special Education teacher in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), and spent 14 years at Green Dot public schools teaching science, Advanced Placement (AP) psychology and as an Associated Student Body (ASB) director. From there, McDonnell became vice principal overseeing discipline activities, athletics and the arts. After that, he became the principal at Green Dot and Mount SAC Early College Academy.
“Having taught special ed, overseen activities and worked with dual enrollment, I think all those experiences shape where I am and what divisions I oversee in my new role,” McDonnell said.
McDonnell compares his experiences in previous roles to his new role as dean, realizing how different and unique it is at Walnut.
“There were just 200 kids at my last school. I had 12 teachers who were on my caseload, and now I have 30 teachers — and that’s just a third of this school,” McDonnell said. “I think just the sheer size was a lot at first, but after moving beyond that initial shock, I came to realize that with the rich tradition and history here, there’s a lot of pride for being a Mustang and what it means to be at Walnut.”
On the other hand, Dreyer has been in education for 29 years, and is starting her 22nd year in WVUSD this year. Dreyer has worked in many positions over the years, such as working in two elementary schools, Diamond Bar High School (DBHS) and at the district office. At DBHS, Dreyer was an English teacher teaching English Language Development (ELD) and AP Lang, and later became the ELD co-coordinator there.
For Lozano, joining WVUSD marks the start of her 25th year in education. Lozano started at Glendora High School as a science teacher for three years, became a Spanish teacher for 18 years and then became an assistant principal in a middle school for two years. Then, Lozano moved back to Glendora High School to be an assistant principal before moving to Walnut. This year, Lozano also plans on overseeing the process of AP testing.
“I want to see how the system for AP registration can be a little bit more efficient for students to make the process of registering and paying for the AP tests structured and overall just ready,” Lozano said.
Along with Lozono, several other staff members, including Principal Jamie Norell, have come into their new position at Walnut from Glendora High School.
“In a way, it’s actually nice to have a bit of familiarity,” Lozano said. “Otherwise, everything would have been completely new. It’s nice just to have someone to talk to and say, ‘Can you believe how different this is?’”
With many new administrative changes, the deans all feel as though it is exciting to learn about the school and to work with other staff.
“I think it’s exciting because all three deans are new,” Dreyer said. “Because we have our awesome new principal, I just think it’s just an exciting time for the school and for us to be new together.”
