New Principal Interview

Q: Can you tell me about your educational background and how you got into school administration?

Kullen Welch: “I wanted to be in education since I was in elementary school. And then when I got to high school and decided to be a teacher. In high school, really, I had an amazing high school principal that took me under his wing. You can do a job shadowing your senior year in the community, and I chose to shadow him. And so one period of the day I would go and just basically sit in the office—people might call us student service in the office— but it was more like I would sit in with him in his office and we would kind of go through different things when he could, but that really put the desire in me to be a high school principal; to see how he supported his students and whatever passion they wanted to do. So, I majored in P.E. and kinesiology in high school and college and taught P.E. for fifteen, sixteen years. I transitioned to Assistant Principal at Hart High School and Saugus High School and the last two years before coming to Valencia, I was the principal at La Mesa Junior High. I have taught at Hart, Arroyo Seco, Rio Norte, and a school up the Valley. So, I’ve been around.”

Q: How long have you been in education?

Welch: “I started teaching, my first year of teaching, was in 2002. So this is my twenty-third year in education. 

Q: What is one of the most challenging roles you’ve held, and what did you learn from it?

Welch: “Probably my nine days as a Valencia principal. Challenging? Being a principal is challenging. Being an administrator during COVID was probably the most challenging part of trying to figure out how you guys can learn, teachers can teach, and going with that process though. when you look back I think that being an administrator during COVID was probably one of the toughest times.”

Q: Can you share a memorable moment from your teaching or administrative career?

Welch: “So in my office, you see a trophy. I taught at Rio Norte for twelve years. And so one of the highlights is playing dodgeball in Rio. In P.E., I hit a kid who was running across and hit him just right parallel and went flying and I thought my job career was over. And so, it was always a highlight to play dodgeball at Rio and go that route. That actually is the first thing that popped into my mind as I looked across my office at that trophy.”

Q: What is your vision for this school, and how do you plan to achieve it?

Welch: “The vision is really to just continue the legacy that has been before. I don’t have a serious agenda yet, but my goal right now is to get to know the campus, to get to know the students, the teachers, the staff, and navigate that away with a baseline of our goal is to see every kid succeed to the best of their potential. And so it really is establishing what happens at Valencia and how we can look as a team to make that better and when we talk about team, it includes the students, the teachers, the staff. It includes everybody to be unified on that goal; to see everybody to the best of their potential.”

Q: How do you define success for a school, and how do you measure it?

Welch: “Do we give students the opportunity to pursue their passion? I think we look at success, there’s all kinds of definitions to that. So really, are we doing our best to provide opportunities for kids to succeed in areas they are passionate about? And if we do that effectively, then success will be a ripple effect of that.”

Q: How do you handle conflicts between students, teachers, or parents?

Welch: “Communication. Communication is key. A lot of times, the conflict could just be a misunderstanding that could be clarified just by a simple conversation. I think every conflict should start with that. So, if ever something comes up on my desk, and there is a conflict between two students, I’m like, ‘Can we get in the same room? Can we talk it out?’ Because you may have a lot more in common than you think. This could be, maybe, a vocabulary issue where you’re talking about the same thing but have two different ideas of what it means and sometimes we can rectify things that way.”

Q: How do you foster a positive school culture and ensure a safe learning environment?

Welch: “The glass is always half full, is it?  I’m not a pessimist by nature. I am looking at things in a positive light. So, I think it is for me it’s being visible on the campus and trying to talk to students and not just be in my office. Hopefully, I can get out more. Hopefully, you’ve seen me out at brunch or lunch. So, that’s my goal: to create a positive school culture. It’s my set of working hard and being kind. And if every student, every teacher, every adult, everybody on campus has those two things, it’s going to ripple effect into a great atmosphere.”

Q: What strategies do you use to keep students and staff motivated?

Welch: “Donuts. Food. I think it’s rewarding. Let’s celebrate successes. If you can celebrate successes and build that level of communication where we can establish friendship, then when the tough things come, we can work through those easily if we have a connection beforehand. Donuts and pizza. The adults are donuts, the kids are pizza.”

Q: What legacy do you hope to leave at this school?

Welch: “When my time at Valencia is done, I think I want people to reflect back at Mr. Welch to say that he was open, he explored options and gave people the ability to pursue their passion, whether that be a teacher or a student, that he worked collaboratively to make sure the students had the opportunity to pursue their passions. And if I can leave that mark on Valencia. That’ll be a good thing for me.”