Principal Markus Autrey at his desk. Photo by Laura Fishman.
Los Gatos High School’s new principal, Markus Autrey, is setting new standards and getting ready for a fresh academic year in a place he knows pretty well. He was promoted to the principal position after serving as assistant principal of LGHS for almost three years.
Autrey has spent the last 15 years as an educator. He started his career path by teaching English outside of Philadelphia. He later became an assistant principal at several schools including high schools in Kirkwood Missouri, Castro Valley, Saratoga and Los Gatos. After serving as assistant principal of LGHS for almost three years, he was promoted to the principal position.
What brought you to LGHS?
I came here pretty haphazardly actually. A family friend said that this was a great district and I just applied. It was a good fit for me in terms of my plans for my professional future and in terms of my personality type. It’s been really good so far.
Why do you think you were chosen for the principal position?
I think it has to do with my ties to the school. I have an inside perspective, but have outside experience. I think I offer a little bit of both worlds because I’ve seen other models of education yet I have a pretty sound understanding of an insiders take on the values of this school system.
What changes are you making to LGHS?
We moved to a new block schedule to give teachers more time to rediscover and look at how they deliver the information they know so well. We want to make a larger school feel like it belongs in a small town. So we’re trying to create a smaller more intimate feel in the school among the administration, teachers, and students
How do you want the school to have more of a presence in the town of Los Gatos?
There’s a history and heritage to the school and to the town, but there’s also some really progressive thinking. I mean we’re in the Silicon Valley and that’s home to some of the most innovative thinkers of our time. I think there’s a balance between what has always been and what the possibilities are. We owe it to our students to give them a little bit of both. In terms of values, we work with the town council and the mayor, and we work with the police department as well. I think in a school like this and in a town like this everything is pretty interwoven.
What were some of your biggest accomplishments as Assistant Principal?
We were in Program Improvement last year and we appealed the data submitted, so now we are out of it. Our star programs are now up and our AP scores are up as well.
Would you say standardized testing is a priority for you?
Yes. The quantitative stuff is always important because for the folks who are not directly tied with us, it’s the only real barometer for how we’re doing as a school, so it is important. But also the qualitative stuff – the things you can’t measure, the opinions of the people who walk through these halls everyday, also matter. I think it’s all about finding a healthy balance between the qualitative and the quantitative. I think this school prides itself on having a balance of both areas.
What are you doing to collaborate with others in the school district?
I work pretty directly with Lisa Frazier, who’s the principal of Fisher and Cory Kidwell, who’s the principal of C.T, and those are our two major feeders. We’re doing more articulation. I know the superintendents of both districts are working more collaboratively. We’re trying to establish some freshman teacher teams who can work directly with the eighth grade teachers at those schools as well, so we can develop vertical teaming and further coordinate our systems.
What plans do you have for your professional future?
I’ve reached one of my goals by becoming a high school principal and I plan on doing that for quite sometime. Perhaps I would like to pursue my doctorate and eventually move on to becoming a district officer or superintendent.
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