As He Tends His Garden, Eldred Nurtures Learning

First published in the August 5 print issue of the South Pasadena Review.

John Eldred loves to garden, which makes he and the campus of South Pasadena High School a perfect fit.

When the crepe myrtle blooms, he knows it’s spring. He loves the smell of the jasmine while he wanders through the campus. He even called the campus bucolic and that it creates a sense of calm.

There is this one tree that’s bothering him, but that was the only really discouraging words he had to say about his first year as principal at SPHS in 2021.

His excitement and enthusiasm almost jumped through my computer during our Zoom session last week.

School starts Aug. 11, and he can hardly wait to be out and about among the students.

One thing he wants to see flourish more than flowers is the students he’s been entrusted with as principal.

“The kids here are so incredibly sophisticated and bright,” Eldred said. “They are so plugged in. Every time I visit a classroom is a gift.”

The 54-year-old Eldred said he likes to visit 10-12 classes a week, and he wants to be mingling with students during brunch and lunch just to be available.

Eldred brought nearly 30 years pf experience in education to his current job — 20 of those at Glendale High School, where he taught social studies and English. He served the past seven years as assistant principal at Crescenta Valley High School, and was not shy to admit he didn’t get some of the principal jobs that were open when he applied for them.

He knew that a job at a district with only one high school with a really good reputation didn’t open often — so he applied when South Pasadena opened up.

It’s like not getting accepted to some of the schools you apply to, and then finding an acceptance in the mail from a place you always dreamed of going.

“People asked me: ‘Is the grass really greener on the other side of the fence?’ and I, answer ‘100%.’ This place is special,” he said.

Elred got his reward just in time to welcome students back for their first full year back full-time after the pandemic.

“It was great. … the high-school community was wonderful and I had incredible support from the community at large,” he said.

But it wasn’t an easy task facing either principal, teachers, parents or community going into last year’s school opening.

“It was challenging for everyone,” he admitted. “There was COVID exhaustion from being home and there were still parents and students who were nervous about coming back to school.”

The gospel — according to Elred — was to be respectful of people’s opinions.

But as respectful as he was, COVID wasn’t respectful back. There was a spike in cases after students returned, then another after Christmas and another around finals.

“In the first week, it seemed weird to be back for some students. But, by the second week, things seemed back to normal for many of them,” he said.

Extra credit, Eldred said, went to nurses Abby Silver and Jill Lopez, and to the counselors, but the teachers, the superintendent’s office and the Parent Teachers Student Association also helped the students regain a sense of normalcy.

Eldred loves the layout of the school. It reminds him in some ways to a college campus. All the classroom doors open into an open campus and students go back and forth from classes or to lunch.

It reminds me of a salad mixing bowl. The students can mingle, buy lunch or snacks, listen to music or just talk to each other.

That’s what Eldred likes, too. He said he’s not the kind of principal who likes to sit at his desk. He’d rather answer calls or do e-mail on his cellphone.

He’ll stroll the grounds even when the students are in class — enjoying the moment.

“My responsibility is to be available to the kids,” he said.

I mentioned that all this openness might make it more worrisome in terms of safety, but Eldred pointed out that gates lock from the outside, but can be opened from the inside.

One of the things he believes strongly in is a program called “Challenge Success,” which involves teachers, parents, students and the administration. Eldred said that he believes it helps create a sense of well-being and pulls parents into the process. He wants to do more of these programs, developed and sponsored by Stanford University.

The program also provides speakers for students, staff and parents. The first talk will be the evening of Sept. 6 with primarily parents and staff on the importance of young people getting enough sleep and the next day, the same speaker will present to all students.

Eldred is asking teachers this year to use more data-point research to enable them to have a clearer picture of where they are after students returned last year from computer learning.

“I believe teachers want to see data to understand whether they are reaching their students and accomplishing the goals that they set themselves at the beginning of the school year,” he said.

Vanessa Blackwood joins the administrative staff as an assistant principal, replacing Janet Wichman, who retired in July.

Eldred is proud of the high academic standards of the school, but he also believes that there is more to life than academics.

It’s almost a holistic approach where students should take time to enjoy some of the non-academic treasures that surround them.

He points out that colleges want a well-rounded student who is involved in the community, arts, their own interests or sports.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say he invited his students to always unplug and to stop and smell the roses.

But if they want to admire their surroundings, Eldred might be just across campus sharing the view.