Sunnyvale’s new superintendent wants to reimagine what education can be.
Earlier this month, Gudiel Crosthwaite took over the role. He brings more than 30 years of educational experience. Sunnyvale School District was an attractive proposition for him because of its forward-thinking approach, committing “the vision, the resources and the support” to improving the district.
“I am not about the status quo. How do we repurpose education? It wasn’t built for people of color. It wasn’t built for poor people. It wasn’t built for women,” he said.
Most recently, Crosthwaite served as the superintendent of Lynwood Unified School District (LUSD). He holds two master’s degrees, one from California State University, Los Angeles, and another from Harvard University. He has a Ph.D. in Education from Claremont University.
While at LUSD, Crosthwaite significantly increased graduation rates and oversaw a surge in participation and success in advanced placement (AP) courses. As a result, the College Board named LUSD an AP District of the Year in 2017 — a distinction only three districts nationwide receive.
In 2022, he helped secure $250 million in state money for the rebuilding of Lynwood High School’s Imperial Campus. Under his guidance that year, every LUCD school received awards recognizing outstanding efforts in fostering positive and engaging learning environments.
Using a collaborative approach is key, Crosthwaite said, and Sunnyvale’s promise to know each child by name, strength and ability is the foundation for good education.
“How do we as educational leaders develop systems that engage teachers, engage students, engage parents?” he said. “We can’t do this work alone. It is so critical for us to partner with families and have them join us at the table.”
Fostering a support system at home as well as at school goes a long way toward ensuring student success, he said. That way, the expectations as to what a child should be capable of at each interval are crystal clear, he added.
Then, the district can put systems in place to monitor a child’s progress, he said. Good educational practices allow the district to be responsive to a child’s needs and pivot accordingly. That philosophy culminates in personalized lesson plans, allowing the district to get the most out of every dollar it spends.
However, a district’s most valuable asset is its people, Crosthwaite said. When teachers are “teaching in isolation,” they aren’t positioned to do their best work.
“Our school systems were not designed to collaborate,” he said. “We have to be able to find ways for our teachers to come together on lesson design.”
Further, he said, educators should lead by example, being lifelong learners themselves. If they aren’t, they are being “hypocritical.”
The goal of education, he said, isn’t just to teach kids to do well on standardized tests. It is to teach them to be well-rounded people, instilling in them the soft skills that will serve them throughout life.
If a district is thoughtful in its approach, it can continue developing good practices and support systems that ensure every student gets what they need, Crosthwaite said.
“Growing up and living here in the U.S., we fall into this fallacy of the zero-sum game,” he said. “[Those practices] are good for all kids. They are going to support the gifted kids. They are going to serve the vulnerable kids.”
Contact David Alexander at d.todd.alexander@gmail.com
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