Building, Keeping Relationships on Agenda for New Westview Principal

Playground improvements are finished, roof work is finished and the building has been cleaned from top to bottom at .

Now all the building needs are some students.

That's what new Westview Principal Tami Staloch-Schultz is excited for as she anticipates the beginning of the school year, this coming Tuesday.

"That first day there's just such a burst of energy," she said.

Staloch-Schultz, who lives in Lakeville, at the beginning of the summer, replacing retiring principal .

She began her career in District 196 as a classroom teacher at Northview Elementary School in Eagan in 1987. She moved to Pinewood Community Elementary as a teacher and instructional assistant, and went to Glacier Hills in 2002. In 2006 she became the magnet coordinator for the school.

About 10 years ago, she began thinking about someday having an administrative position that still allowed her to work with kids, but to take on a bigger role, she said.

"It's nice to have your own building where you lead everything," she said.

She's had the summer to learn the scope of her new role and things she hasn't had to deal with before, including facility issues, staffing, policy, law and more.

Focusing more on building relationships—among staff, between staff and students, between herself and parents—is one of Staloch-Schultz's main goals going into the year, she said.

"I think there's just going to be a sense of change here," she said, referring to everyone getting used to a new principal.

In addition to focusing on improving state standardized test results, she said she'd also like to improve the connection of subject matters between grade levels as students move up each year.

Meeting and getting more parents involved at school is also on Staloch-Schultz's to-do list, as is keeping up community partnerships, such as the school's relationship with Valley Natural Foods.

She met a few parents this summer as they tended to Westview's new community vegetable and herb garden. Things like the school's garden, kindness club, International Peace School status and good relationships overall contribute to a positive school atmosphere.

They help make sure "that we actually have that culture" at Westview, she said.