Mr. Stephen Foster
I have been working in the field of education for the past 20 years and am now in my 17th year of serving the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). I was born and raised in Michigan. Upon graduating from high school, I traveled 2,500 miles cross country to live in California.
I pursued my AA degree from Ventura College and was prepared to transfer to a 4-year college. During that time, I was working full-time at various restaurant jobs and gradually transitioned into the field of education where I worked as a(n): bilingual TA at Ventura High School; ESL Teacher for the Hermandad Mexicano Nacional; Bilingual Student Tester for UCSB; and Assistant Director of Residence for Villanova Preparatory School in Ojai.
I was accepted into Cal-State Northridge, but did not know how I would manage the financial burden of university life. My previous experience at Villanova afforded me the luxury of working for CSUN Housing as a Resident Advisor (RA). The following year, I was promoted to Assistant Resident Director (ARD) and then to Resident Director (RD) over the summer.
I wanted to pursue a graduate degree at Cal-State Long Beach, but still continue working in the field of education, so I applied to be a TA at Le Conte Junior High School. The Bilingual Coordinator quickly noted that I was multi-lingual (Spanish, French, and American Sign Language); had my bachelor’s degree in Linguistics; and had already past the California Basic Educational Skills Test (CBEST). She went to get the Principal, who then hired me as a 9th grade ESL/foreign language teacher.
Upon completion of my first year at Le Conte, I transferred to Franklin High School (FHS), where I taught every level of ESL and Spanish, Education Career Planning, Culture Awareness, and any other class they needed me to teach for the next five years. I enjoyed multiple preparation periods as it broke up the monotony of teaching the same course five times a day, and allowed me to continue learning. While at FHS, I also taught ESL for Franklin Community Adult School in the evenings for three years. I also became ESL Department Chair and taught Emergency Immigration Education Program (EIEP) during intersession.
Le Conte Middle School invited me back to be the Categorical Programs Advisor (CPA) to manage the Bilingual, Title I, School Improvements (SI), and the Technology Programs, which I did for almost two years.
I was then hired by Dr. Thelma Yoshii as the Title I Coordinator to manage student testing, intervention, all school budgets, Professional Development, and assist in converting Thomas Starr King Middle School to a year-round calendar.
After having been a quasi-administrator for many years, I decided to pursue my Masters Degree and Administrative Credential at UCLA. Due to the large time requirement need for the UCLA program, I decided to return to the classroom for two years at Byrd Middle School, just a few miles from my house. While at Byrd, I became ESL Department Chair; assisted the AP with ELD testing and the Bilingual Survey; and trained teachers District-wide through the Language Acquisition Branch (LAB) on how to properly implement the newly-adopted High Point program for ESL.
I completed some of my administrative fieldwork while off-track at North Hollywood High School (NHHS) for Dr. Randall Delling. He then hired me as his Extended Learning Academy (ELA) Administrator for Beyond the Bell. I was then promoted to Generic Assistant Principal at NHHS, where I was responsible for the English/ESL Department, student activities, athletics, the Master Calendar, graduation, room assignments, and coordinating the WASC accreditation. We received the full accreditation. I was also an instrumental leader in converting NHHS to a traditional calendar and exiting NHHS from Program Improvement (PI) status. Before leaving NHHS, I was appointed Summer School Principal for 2007.
I was then transferred to Sun Valley Middle School (SVMS) to assist in the transition to a traditional calendar. I served SVMS as Generic Assistant Principal for two years and supervised the Math Department, 6th grade Math/Science Department, and Physical Education Department. I oversaw physical plant, construction projects, keys, technology, school communication, student testing, and the hiring and training of all new teachers. I also successfully completed the Spring 2009 Master Schedule “Roll Over” and Master Schedule for the Fall of 2009. In 2008, I was assigned Summer School Principal at SVMS and was again appointed Summer School Principal in 2009, but it was canceled due to budget constraints.
I recently was awarded the title of Middle School Assistant Principal of 2008 and was nominated again in 2009 by the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA), Region XVI.
In August of 2009, I was honored to be selected as the new Principal of Marina del Rey Middle School.
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