New Principal Greets a Challenge Head On

principal Dino Battaglini is running late on a recent Tuesday afternoon.

His meeting with the student run leadership group ran long — Battaglini is questioning them about changes he's thinking of making to the school's probation policyHe carries a Blackberry and walkie-talkie, both that are beeping and sputtering at a constant drone. There's a smile on his face.

This is how Battaglini has spent most of his six months on the job, from meetings, polling students, and questioning everything, all with an energy you'd expect from a high school senior.

"I want to make sure we are doing everything that's best for our students and I'm finding the roadblocks that are set up for some," said Battaglini. "We have rules that have been in place for 30 years, do we need to change these rules to fit in with our changing society?"

He started the process with a systematic evaluation of every rule and policy in place at the school and regular meetings with student groups. He is also looking towards the Internet, as the school revamped its website in October and started a social media campaign on its Facebook and Twitter accounts.

"These are things that were unheard of in the education field, and we're really making connections with our 21^st century students," said Battaglini.

Battaglini and his wife Monica have three children, ages 20, 10 and 9. He earned his bachelor's degree from Santa Clara University and his master's degree from San Jose State University.

Battaglini comes to education by birthright. His mother works as a bilingual aid and his sister is a teacher. Growing up, he spent summers working in the school district's warehouse in his native Antioch.

He found his way to teaching after enrolling in school for social work, when the department wouldn't count an internship in a high school counseling department to fulfill a degree requirement.

"They said 'no, you can't do that, it overlaps with the school of counseling'," said Battaglini. "I said, 'So can I go into that?"

Battaglini served as counselor at  in South San Francisco in 1994. He went on to become Antioch High School's vice principal for nine years before taking over in 2007 as principal at Tomales High School.

Sonoma Valley High brings Battaglini the challenges of a student body almost 1,300, about six times larger than Tomales High School's 200 students.

"[In Tomales] I found myself in a spot where the resources are not there as much and there was a lot of isolation. I felt I could do more for the students," said Battaglini. "1,300 is a perfect number."

But Battaglini faces an uphill climb at Sonoma Valley High School, where almost 40 percent of students are socio-economically disadvantaged and almost 30 percent are English language learners.

A new initiative is planned for the 2011 school year. The school district wants all freshman to enroll in and pass a full program of "A-G level" courses preparing them for admission to schools in University of California system.

"Ninth grade is the gatekeeper class," says Battaglini, "to be prepared for the next four years you need to be up to speed."

It is a lofty goal, in a high school where slightly more than 40 percent of graduating seniors don't meet requirements for a four-year college, but Battaglini is realistic.

"Ideally I would like 100 percent to meet that requirement, but I don't live in a fantasy world; some kids are going to fall off, but 80-90 percent with support is realistic," said Battaglini. "I would like to say we're getting every single kid, but we have to be real with it."

He is currently working with the district middle schools to develop programs to better prepare incoming high school students for these new requirements. He is also working to develop options for students who don't make the four-year college cut.

"Maybe some [students] are struggling with substance abuse. Maybe they threw away junior year. I'm thinking, what can we do to make them successful when they are 20 or 21? Ideally we want them all to be [on a college ready track], but if they are not, we are not just going to throw them away," says Battaglini.  

Most importantly, he's trying to relate to his students by undertaking a more difficult task, relating to them as equals.  

Kyle Simmons, a junior at SVHS, could feel Battaglini's passion for kids during the homecoming rally, where he performed an anti-drug rap in-front of the student body. 

"He's nice and funny, he just wants you to succeed," said Simmons.

Battaglini also isn't above name calling, to relate to his students.

"I give people nicknames, like this kid, we played a game of mancala once … so every time I see him I call him mancala. It's a way of saying I kind of relate to you as someone who has an effect and a place in life."

And for Battaglini, developing a relationship with each student is key.

"It's huge," he said. "It's saying to a person 'you validated me. I'm real."