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Updated May 7th, 2009
Pittman is New
LCHS Principal
By ERIC NOLAND
The Outlook
 For the first time in its 46-year
history, La Cañada High School
will have a woman as principal —
and a young one, at that. Audra
Pittman, 32, currently an assistant
principal at Pioneer High School in
Whittier, was appointed Tuesday
night to replace Damon Dragos,
who announced his resignation in
March.
All six of the finalists for the job
were women, but school district
Governing Board President Joel
Peterson insisted that the decision
did not reflect a concerted effort to
make history at the high school.
“There was none of that,”
Peterson said. “We were just trying
to find the best person who was the
best fit, with the strongest credentials
and experience. All of our principals
are now women.”
As for her relatively young age,
Supt. Jim Stratton said, “The (search) committees were not really concerned with the age of any of
the candidates, and weren’t aware
of the age of the candidates. We
were looking for the individual
who came to us with the most relevant
experience, with the strongest
set of leadership skills, with the
strongest references from previous workplaces and a well-articulated
vision. Audra easily surfaced as the
No. 1 candidate in that regard.
“Age is not a concern for me at
all. If anything, it’s a plus, just given
the energy and the commitment factor.”
For her part, Pittman, who has
never held a principal’s position
before, said, “I’ve had a very full
career. To me, age is just a number.
It’s not about the number, it’s about
the work that has been done. I’ve
been fortunate to hold a lot of positions,
see education at a lot of different
levels and have great mentors.
These are the main reasons I feel
I’m ready for this job.”
The people associated with
Pittman at her current job apparently
concur. The endorsements from
the Pioneer community — faculty,
administrators, students, parents —
were positively glowing during a
site visit, according to Stratton.
“Teachers spoke about the fact
that Ms. Pittman had enabled them
to see different ways of how they
delivered instruction,” he said.
“Students talked about the fact that
she knows them, cares about them,
is a role model for them.
Administrators talked about her
incredible organization. Parents
talked about the fact that she
includes them in decision-making,
respects them and is always welcoming
to them when they come to
campus.”
Pittman, who is single, spent the
past four years as an assistant principal
— one year at Wilson High
School in Long Beach and three at
Pioneer.
Her new job will represent a
profound change from the student
demographics and numbers to
which she has grown accustomed.
Long Beach Wilson’s enrollment for
grades 9 through 12 is 4,600 students
— more than the enrollment
for grades kindergarten through 12
in the entire LCUSD. Pioneer, a
four-year high school, has approximately
1,600 students, which is
similar to La Cañada High School’s
enrollment of 1,473 students for
grades 9-12, but Pittman noted that
Pioneer’s student body is about
95% Hispanic.
“I am excited about coming to
La Cañada,” she said during a
reception held at Tuesday night’s
Governing Board meeting, where
her contract was unanimously
approved. “It is a close community,
and everyone is working together
for the lives of the kids.”
She added: “One of the main
differences from Pioneer to here,
Pioneer is in a union district, so it’s
only high schools. I really wanted to
come back to a unified (district)
because of the streamlining, and
how it’s K-12, and you’re working
with kids from a young age and
watching them grow as young
adults. It’s really nice to have that
seamless transition.”
Pittman, who grew up in Norco,
celebrated her 32nd birthday on
Wednesday, but she has packed a
great deal of education and job
experience into those years.
She is currently working on a
Ph.D. in urban leadership at
Claremont Graduate University,
having received a bachelor’s degree
in math and secondary education
from the University of Evansville
(Ind.) and a master’s in educational
administration from Cal State
Dominguez Hills. After teaching
math in the classroom, she worked
for a while as a math curriculum
coach at Long Beach Jordan High
before moving on to the assistant
principal position at Wilson.
A strong math background is not
commonly found among top administrators,
but Pittman said, “Because
math is not loved by all, I love sharing
my love of it with students.”
She begins work July 1 on a
year-to-year arrangement, with a
two-year probationary period.
Peterson remarked on one
unusual aspect of the job hunt. “In
the business world, he said, “it’s
absolutely unique that you can actually
go to the employer that you’re
stealing them away from.”
Of the visit to Pioneer High, he
said, “Everything was very consistent,
very strong, as they spoke to
her strength as a change agent for
things that need change but someone
who supported the things that
were fundamentally good.
“The strongest praise came from
faculty. Veteran faculty. There was a
45-year veteran who said he’d never
worked with an administrator who
had such a profound and lasting
impact.”
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