I had the honor to sit down with Dr. David Vannasdall to explore how Arcadia Unified balances tradition, choice, and care to serve 9,000 students with a stable, future‑ready culture. From counseling roots to AI planning, we map what makes this district work and how families can partner well.
- stability across board, leadership, and staff
- superintendent’s journey from teacher to counselor to leader
- district scale, services, and CEO‑style operations
- curriculum under state oversight with family choice
- unified K–12 culture and Leader in Me values
- Imagine, Inquire, Inspire vision and AI readiness
- belonging through small acts of care in schools
- practical advice for parents on resilience
- bullying vs meanness and restorative responses
- communication ladder: teacher, principal, then district
- college pathways and global destinations for graduates
- sponsors acknowledged and community events highlighted
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I will put it on arcadiafyi.com so that they can always go to that resource and find out more what’s going on in our district.
Transcript
Dr. David Vannasdall
Christine Zito:
Hello and welcome to Arcadia FYI. I am so glad that you’re here, and I just want to say thank you so much for making this a success. I am like, I am so happy with the city of Arcadia and just the community that we that we have here. I do want to say, please be patient with me with the emails and the Facebook messages of your suggestions, your concerns, some events happening here and outside of the city of Arcadia. Thank you, thank you. I am getting to those. Okay. Just be patient with me. I mean, I’m only one little person. I can I am getting to them. You will hear from me. All right. I would like to thank our sponsors, um, Longo Toyota Lexus in El Monte. Now you know what I’m gonna say it. You gotta go by and check it out. Say hi to Brooke and Mike. I mean, I think they’re uh they have a hundred acres, I think. I think it’s it’s a huge lot of all these cars. And they do more than just sell cars. You just gotta go check it out. Star Seven Financial with Francine Chu. I think she’s one of the greatest financial advisors in education and um for kids. We’ll we’ll kind of touch on that a little bit. The Santa Anita Park. In fact, I can almost see the horses running out on the track right here, right down the well, a little bit, you know, around the corner. But Pete’s gonna be in and talking about the things that are happening at the Santa Anita Park. A lot of great things going on. I’m pretty sure you heard some of it. Wait until you hear it from the horse’s mouth. Yes, pun intended. The Le Méridien Hotel in Arcadia and Pasadena here. Uh well, Arcadia, yeah, Pasadena. Uh someone was asking me, you keep talking about you’re gonna have the Le Méridien on. I know. She was supposed to be on a couple of weeks ago, but she’ll be on next week. Okay, last week we had MJ. I hope you had um some great information and how to grow your business online. Okay. How many of you are parents out there? Okay, let me count one, two, okay, a lot of you. How many of your kids, how many of the parents of the kids are in the Arcadia School District? Okay, one, two, a lot. Okay, okay, you’re gonna like this show because in studio I have the superintendent of the Arcadia Unified School District to talk about schools, education, and if you’re on YouTube, you can already see him talk about kids and get to know Dr. David Vannasdall. Yes. Did I say your name right?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
You nailed it.
Christine Zito:
I was practicing all day and last night, so I just wanted to make sure. Welcome to Arcadia.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
I’ve been admiring your work for a long time and appreciate the work that you do for the chamber. And so it’s just awesome to be here in your studio.
Christine Zito:
That’s very humbling because you you what you do for the kids in this huge uh well, not a huge school district, but a very successful school district. Okay, let’s get to know you just a little bit here. Um now I know you weren’t born in Arcadia or here.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
You were where Midwest, Cincinnati, the the Kentucky side of the Ohio River, but I always say Cincinnati because people know where Cincinnati is, but kind of along the northern Kentucky.
Christine Zito:
Northern Kentucky.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
So were you born in in Ohio or born in Missouri and then we moved around middle school to okay?
Christine Zito:
So you were born in Missouri. Is it Missouri or Missouri?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
We said Missouri, but it depends on where you’re from in the state.
Christine Zito:
I know. So people correct me. It’s Missouri, Christine. I know. Okay, okay. So all right, so then you were born in Missouri, but did you go to school in Ohio?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
I went to no University of Kentucky for college, and and then I did work in in Cincinnati, Ohio before coming out to California.
Christine Zito:
Okay, so who’s your football team?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
University, well, I’m married to a Penn State grad.
Christine Zito:
Oh, okay.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
My dog’s name is Nittany. The Nittany Lions. Yeah. So here’s the the deal. She gets football season because that’s their sport. I get basketball season because I bleed blue, University of Kentucky. So that’s how we keep peace at our house.
Christine Zito:
I happen to, you know, Kentucky did really good.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
They did.
Christine Zito:
They do very well, the the college in college cookies.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Weren’t as good when I was in in uh attending back in the day. And and football. And basketball, they’ve always been on.
Christine Zito:
Yeah, they’ve always been good. Okay, so football. All right. So now that you’re in LA, are you a Dodger fan? I’m just gonna test you now because if not, we’re gonna end the show.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
I am a Dodger fan now. I am a Dodger fan. Although I’m holding on to the Bengals for football. Oh, okay. Cincinnati Bengals. I don’t know why. It’s uh it’s tough having a relationship with the Bengals. They let you down every place. I know. I have hope.
Christine Zito:
I know.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
But the Dodgers, it’s just fun. Everyone in my office is a Dodger fan, and you know, the games on in the in the lounge.
Christine Zito:
Did you play sports growing up?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
I did. I played soccer. Oh, really? Soccer is my sport, and uh my son right now is in club soccer, and that’s that’s where I am on weekends. I’m at the fields for the club soccer tournaments and driving all over.
Christine Zito:
So okay, so you already mentioned you’re married. How many kids do you have?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
I have five kids. So I have three adult children that I raised all the way up, divorced, remarried, and decided, let’s do this again and raise kids again. Uh, and it has been the best blessing in my life. And uh, you know, once I was at Arcadia, I got involved in the I was single and got involved in the bowling league. Oh people know, but the the the staff in Arcadia District have a bowling league, and it’s it’s everyone, like different teams from different schools, elementary, middle, high, maintenance department folks, painting, you know, you name it. And uh I got involved just to kind of get out of the house. I was principal of Arcadia High and you know, working night and day, and uh didn’t expect to, but met my now wife who was a teacher at Camino Grove. And back then there wasn’t a lot of crossover between an elementary and a high school, so you know I didn’t get to see her. And and she’ll want me to say tell everyone she was in the district first. Okay, she’s always make sure people know that. Uh, and then uh, you know, got married and and uh decided that well, she talked me into a dog first, and like eased me in, and like one, and then that’s God’s humor to have twins, right? So it’s been an incredible blessing. They’re in seventh grade with twins.
Christine Zito:
Yeah, I was gonna say you have twins.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
I saw that First Avenue and just having a blast. I you know, the biggest perk of my job is that my kids get to attend Arcadia schools because they just do an incredible job. I’m so fortunate.
Christine Zito:
Yeah, that’s great, man. I just want to keep talking about who you are. Well, let’s talk about how now you’ve transitioned into education. Where’d you gain that or gather that passion for a higher education for children?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Yeah, I I’d always been involved in in uh volunteerism when I was younger and uh coaching, even at a young age. I just I loved watching and being a part of people become the best version of themselves and and and in different areas. And I wasn’t sure. I was one of those folks that when I went to college, I didn’t have that clear path. You know, so many of our Arcadia High students have this you know laser focus on this is what I want to do. I wasn’t that fortunate. Went to the University of Kentucky, was interested in psychology and counseling and those types of things. Um was confused and by junior year, where you really have to kind of focus in. I went to the counseling office and they give you all those tests to you know help you understand who you who you are. And they sat down with me and they said, You’re either gonna be a priest or an educator or a teacher. Wow, that’s uh I know, right? Priest education. Nowadays kids have so many things to pick from. Back then it was very, you know, it was like a doctor, you know. And uh I thought I was like, you know, the teacher thing. And the the guy said, I actually know someone in the education department. Let me call them. You can go talk to them. And I met and it was like this instant, these are my people. As soon as I kind of got into the college of education, I was like, this is what I want to do. So went through the route of a I was a history teacher, seventh grade, when I started my career.
Christine Zito:
Seventh grade, junior high. Yeah.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
I love the middle school and the rapid hormones. Kids are, you know, they’re they’re on top of the world in the morning, and by lunch, the you know, the world’s going down and they cry. But I love that. I love that.
Christine Zito:
Oh, yes, my junior high school. Okay, let’s move on.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Um and then I just it went from that to uh seeing that I I’m really into the whole child, and and I was focused as much on the kids’ whole development as I was history. So that what me put me into counseling, and then I got a degree in counseling. I then went the the route of uh I was a therapist, uh I had my own private practice.
Christine Zito:
Is that how you got your doctorate?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
No, I got my doctorate once I got out here in leadership. But I got another, I got a master’s degree in in counseling as well.
Christine Zito:
Oh, okay.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
And did that, but I found that very isolating. And I I applaud people that can do that, but to sit and meet with you know five, six clients a day and take on a lot of heavy stuff. Yeah, and I didn’t have a lot of interaction. I was like, I I just I need more, and I need a lot of you know, collaboration with adults and different things. So I went back into the education field, but stayed in the counseling area, and then saw like, hey, I’m very involved in administration as well. I can make a greater impact in that way, and got another master’s in leadership.
Christine Zito:
Okay, well, how many wait no how many masters do you have?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
No, right? I’m like, you know, bachelor’s from UK, I got a master’s from Xavier University in uh community and school counseling, and then a master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati in uh urban leadership. And then once I was out here, I I got my doctorate degree in in education. So yeah, a lot of schooling. A lot of school a lot of money to a lot of people.
Christine Zito:
I bet yeah, yeah, me too. So I I understand. Yeah, but yeah.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
You know, that just to end that, I um I was very uh, you know, leading the largest high school and successful high school in the state of Ohio at the age of 30. I was very fortunate that a lot of people saw my potential and gave me opportunities that they probably shouldn’t have done. I was way too young uh and loving that job and kind of had everything, you know, picket fence, three kids back in Ohio, Kentucky, and uh my son got involved in in uh theater in and was made the uh Broadway show of Oliver at age 10. Oh wow. So I say all that because I had everything Broadway in New York? Yeah.
Christine Zito:
Wow.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Never saw California coming, but all of a sudden he had this opportunity, and they were traveling the whole family all over the country because then it went on the road. You know, the traveling Broadway shows that you know go to the show.
Christine Zito:
Do you know every song from Oliver now?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Oh, I I’m I can’t I’m not gonna sing. They didn’t get that talent from me. That was their mom’s side. But I have the whole show memorized, obviously. Uh and and then it was the iconic, you know, go west, young man, yeah, chase your dream story that so many Californians have. And just we just sold everything, and I uh left my job that I loved and just came out to California, to LA, and just said we’re gonna start over so I could support him in TV and and movies. And right.
Christine Zito:
Is he doing is he still acting today?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
He’s not. He went to college, took a break, he did a lot, you know, some Disney and and things, uh Drake and Josh show back in the day. There’s a lot of things. And uh he then uh promised me he would go to college, and he did, and then after college, he decided just to go music. So all three of my adult children are musicians and uh successful and enjoying those groups.
Christine Zito:
Very talented, yeah, and enjoying it. Very talented kids.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
And so here I am, and but if someone had told me how beautiful it was, yeah, here it is. I would have come earlier to LA. Once I got out of here, I’m like, oh my gosh.
Christine Zito:
It is it it is nice, it’s sunny. I don’t like the humidity at times during the summer, but other than that, I I California is a beautiful state, and there’s a lot of little uh pockets that are hidden that are just beautiful. Okay, so now let’s talk about being a superintendent of this school district. Okay, what does that mean?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Yeah. The the closest thing I can compare to CEO of a corporation, right? You just have so many moving parts. We’re probably the largest employer in in the city. Uh we have over 2,000 staff and over 9,000 students and comes with families and parents.
Christine Zito:
Did you hear that? 9,000. 9,000 students.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
It scares me if I think about it, right? I can eat. Uh it’s a lot of responsibility. But I I get to work with an incredible team, and so my job really is to build a team around myself that that kind of takes care of the 360 of our organization. And people think of school and education as the classroom, and that is why we’re there for that magic that takes place in the classroom, that teaching and learning. But we’re, you know, we we serve over 6,000 meals a day. You know, we have our transportation department, our maintenance department, you know, it it we’re basically running a city, and so, you know, I surround myself, my executive team that I call them. I have, you know, our business services, that’s all of you know, payroll and finance, and all of our maintenance and and facilities. And then I have our HR department, uh, my assistant soup, I have my ed services superintendent, uh, Ryan Farama, my communications, and then my uh chief uh technology and innovation. So the six of us are basically the team. Those five carry out all the work, and then of course they have departments and staff.
Christine Zito:
Now you have a board too, right?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
I do. So I work for an elected board. So I our school board, just like a city council, is elected by our community.
Christine Zito:
And yours is not, though.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Yours is my position is appointed is hired by the board. Yeah. And in fact, I’m the only position that’s hired by the board.
Christine Zito:
And then I see okay.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Have the uh the authority to see I’m learning something I’m in school, right? Run the district. So yeah, it’s it’s uh, you know, a lot of people really don’t understand how it works and what the role of the school board and even the separation between the school and the city, you know, there’s always a lot of confusion on that. So um so I work directly with the board, and the board sets the vision, sets the policy, approves all expenditures, the budget.
Christine Zito:
Okay.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
So, you know, my staff, myself, we bring all that to the board for approval, but we bring we do the work and bring the recommendations to the board, and they’re the oversight and set the direction.
Christine Zito:
I see. And so I guess uh now that I’m learning this, who comes up with all the curriculum and the skill sets to get our kids ready for the future?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Yeah, we we have incredible team ed services. So we have uh curriculum directors, um, you know, Dr. Forcy, uh who is the the assistant superintendent for ed services. Um, you know, we they collaborate with people in the greater San Gabriel Valley area. Um we have a lot of support from the state, from the county. There’s state guidelines, you know, on curriculum, textbooks.
Christine Zito:
Because you’re public. We are public, it’s different from private. Yes. Okay.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Yeah.
Christine Zito:
So being I don’t want to say controlled. You’re not controlled by the state, but there is guidelines with the state. Is that right?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Control is a good word.
Christine Zito:
Yeah, it’s okay, it’s it is a good word.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
They like to say we have local control, but every time you get money, it’s like any government money. It there’s a lot of bureaucracy and strings. If you’re gonna take the money, these are the things you have to control. Okay, but let me have oversight. We’ll use that.
Christine Zito:
Right. Let’s let’s talk about that with the control of the governments, and then you have parents. How do you balance the control of the of the state with parents that disagree with it?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Yeah. That is what’s playing out in boardrooms right now across the state, and sometimes very toxic where there’s disagreements.
Christine Zito:
Yeah.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Where we’ve been successful in Arcadia is we really believe and lean into a lot of choice for for our students and our and our parents. So for example, the the state will come down and say there’s a a new course that you know every child’s gonna take, and you know, like ethnic studies. So that’s that’s one that became very uh was a hot button for a lot of districts, right? And some and they’ll recommend here is a recommended curriculum for that, but there’s other ways that you can fulfill this requirement, right? We don’t take the easy road and just okay, we’ll take what they say and say, oh, every kid, now you have to take that. We’re very thoughtful, strategic, we we look at what they’re recommending, we we follow the law, so we know we’re gonna have to implement this, but we look at how many different ways would our meet our students’ needs and our families, right? Um, you know, like we’re you know, right now we’re we’re talking about the Apache uh designation, and that’s something that also the state is weighing in on. But, you know, we because of our relationship with the White Mountain Apaches, we were like, you know, there’s a there’s a chance also to include a lot of history of the Apache people because we have this relationship. So we could offer a course that meets that requirement because it’s really about diversity and students learning about other folks, other people. And uh, and so you know, we just we brought forward like eight different courses to meet that requirement. So how that gets back to parents being upset, we don’t force parents into having to take their child has to take this one class that they don’t agree with, right? We we provide choices.
Christine Zito:
Oh, okay, that’s that’s good to know.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
But we also respect the parents’ rights and we want to give them an option and a path that that they feel okay with. So that’s been successful.
Christine Zito:
So overseeing the district, you do elementary, junior high, high school. Okay, so here’s a here’s a broad w how do you approach the differences in leadership for each of those different levels of education?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Well, uh really because my position is more on the 40,000-foot level level of of ensuring that as a unified school district we operate as one organization. So so first I would say that it’s the same across the board because it’s it’s about culture. It’s about you know how do we genuinely believe um education uh is servicing our community and and you know the why why do we exist and and you know how do we approach the day-to-day, you know, um activities of of student learning. Uh and so in Arcadia, you know, we’ve worked really hard over the years to ensure that when you hear a an elementary principal or a teacher talk about the district and their role, it should sound very much the same as a high school because we all serve the same kids. We each have one twelfth or thirteenth if they go to K and TK, one fourteenth. Um so we’re all working together and it just scaffolds and builds on each other, right? So that you know that that student when they go from kindergarten to first, it should feel the same, you know, same language, we’re just growing.
Christine Zito:
Even though they’re scared to death.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Yeah. You know, but then it should also feel the same between elementary and middle and middle to high because we’re all the same district, right? And so, you know, creating programs like character ed programs that all the schools have, not just one school has this character ed and this one. So we we use leader in me. It was developed by Covey, and a lot of us were fans of Covey in the day, or still are. Um so we look work hard to do things where our students and our teachers really see themselves as just part of of this entire system. So no one works in isolation. In fact, the work’s just way too hard anymore to do yourself.
Christine Zito:
So teachers really they support each other because yeah, when I when I I I hang out with teachers, I okay, I’ll say my life group with my church, almost all the girls in there, the ladies, are teachers. Yeah. And to see them support each other, it’s a really beautiful thing to see when it comes to teachers. And I is that i with with unity among the teachers, is that a that has to be some type of backbone to to making this success.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
We have a theme each year. You know, first of all, we uh we created these values um that we have on the wall, and you know, like empathy and learn from failure. You know, learn from failure was the big one that people said we can’t, we’re Arcadia, we can’t put the word failure on our wall, right? It’s like, no, we really do because we because people feel uncomfortable with that, that’s why we have to do it, because failure is the way people grow and the way people it took me a long time to embrace that, but yeah, it’s it comes with an experience. Uh but you know, so we we kind of live by the same set of values and then we create themes every year that we all rally behind. And and if I can share real quick, this year it’s Imagine, Inquire, Inspire, which is our tagline that we’ve been using for eight years. So it’s not new, but we are in the the process this year of talking about what is life gonna look like in 15 years? So we really want to vision and engage with the business community, our parents, our students, and talk about with AI, you know, being integrated, what are the jobs that are gonna be out there, and then start asking the tough questions. Are we providing the needs and experiences that our students are gonna need when they graduate? Not right now, but we’re teaching kids in preschool right now that are gonna not be out for 13, 14 years.
Christine Zito:
That is great. That gives me chills.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
That is really Imagine Inquire Inspire is really to kind of get people the imagine, right? Think outside, not today, because the world’s gonna be so different in 15 years. So, what should we be thinking about? We have such a smart community, right? I mean, people in different fields and jobs that can you know help us and give us input. And then, you know, the the uh inquires, really asking the tough questions, okay, how everyone wants everything. How does it fit into what we do and not you know negatively impact what is working? And so you really have to be thoughtful, and then ultimately what will inspire, like something that we can like our North Star, right? What can we point to and say, like, wow, we this is where we’re going, and if we can hit this, all of our kids are gonna be super successful in and you know, 15 years out.
Christine Zito:
I think what’s scary too, and what do you think that with the future holds, AI seems so singular? Yeah, but people don’t see the broad picture of artificial intelligence. There’s a lot of options that you could choose from as we grow into this new technology and into a new future.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Yeah. Is that something we we know it’s it’s a powerful tool. Yeah. I mean, clearly it’s something that you can’t ignore. Students need to be learning how to use it as a tool, you know, how to master it. Uh we also know that powerful tools can be used for negative things. And if you look back in history, that’s easy to see. So, you know, that’s where also becoming a uh just a good citizen and understanding, you know, responsibilities and morals and all of those things come in. That’s that that whole child kind of education. So, you know, when you start to partner those two, but but honestly, right now it’s like drinking from a fire hose with AI, right? Like we’re just getting so much information and like every app now is using it, right?
Christine Zito:
Yeah.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
So I it I’d be lying if I said that, oh, I have a grip on this and I know where this is going. We’re watching it, we’re we’re we recognize we got to begin to implement it as a tool for teachers, for students. Uh, but it’s it’s interesting kind of watching right now where where is it gonna go? Like, and how soon will it impact you know our daily lives?
Christine Zito:
You know, the Arcadia School District, people uh from everywhere try to get an apartment. They’re that they they will live in a tent to have their kids go to the Arcadia School District. Why is that, Dr. David? I mean, what is it about the education about the schools here in Arcadia that people want their children to attend?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Yeah. Well, you know, a lot of people do their homework. So I think it starts for most people, you know, Google searching and all of that, right? And and it’s excellence, and what does that mean for different people? And there’s excellence across the board. What I like to explain, and it’s hard to just narrow down because we’re we’re a living organism, right? Everything you touch, you pull a string at here, it impacts over here. So it’s very delicate and fragile, but it’s the rich tradition and history that we have, and it boils down to stability and consistency and playing the long road. Uh, you know, we in Arcadia, we don’t go off on these left turns all of a sudden. And and that has to do with stability and longevity of the school board members, right? They served for many, many years. They were PTA parents, they understand who we are. They don’t come on the board and like, I want, you know, I know someone that that has this company and and we should use this new reading program, you know. We have fundamental, you know, reading programs in our elementary we’ve been using for over 30 years. Why? Because they work. Yeah and we know they work. So we don’t take the newest, you know, silver bullet that someone’s selling and say that you should do this. We’re we’re you know, we grow each year, we innovate each year, but each year grows on last year. We we don’t leave that. And and so when you have a steady board, you have a steady superintendent. You know, it’s my 20th year.
Christine Zito:
I know you know I was gonna get to that. Wow.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
I’m invested here. My kids are here, right? Like I’m making decisions that I’m gonna have to live with, that my kids will have to live with. I’m not just here to get a paycheck for three years and get uh my resume builder and move on, right? But that’s not the norm.
Christine Zito:
Well, we’re not gonna let you lead, Dr. I’m sorry.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
And then and then when the superintendent study, you have the executive team that’s been here eight years. My team has not, it’s been the same. And then you have teachers that are not gonna leave. So when you put all that together, uh people don’t aren’t able to really identify it, but what we have is something that’s slowly been building 50 plus years, and it just keeps getting better every year. But it’s fragile because you know, that stability starts at the top with the board. They are political they’re elected. And you know, we’ve been fortunate that those five people don’t run for board because you know they they want to build a name and run for something else. They just want to give back to the system.
Christine Zito:
Yeah, I see some of the board members at the supermarket.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Um the president or the Lee Chavez right now is our president, yes.
Christine Zito:
Oh, Lee, we have we’ll see each other at Ralph’s. Yeah, and it’s so funny. We her and I will try and go early Saturday morning so we don’t see anybody. And we’re like, you know, I am my hair’s not, you know, that and we and then there she is. It’s so funny. I mean, she is just I I love I love Lee.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
She’s really and our board members aren’t paid. These aren’t paid positions. They’re at everything.
Christine Zito:
Everything and they’re happy. Okay, so I I’m I’m gonna say this. Um, the only way that I could I was a high school teacher for, you know, I and I taught in the ROP program. Oh, so yeah, I loved it. I did it for like six years and I got my teaching credentials at the University of San Diego, and I loved it. I love kids. I love any the the the you know, when when you call them teenagers, I say no, they’re young adults, you know, okay, they’re teens, aging. But they’re they’re just I mean, like you said, um what I’ve learned being a high school teacher, they’re they like to absorb information, they just want to be taught. I I mean of course they’re wild, we were always wild. But the reason what I love about the the Arcadia High School District is one thing that you touch on is consistency. It works, and I’m gonna compare it to In N Out Burger, whether you like it or not. I mean, their menu is the same.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
It’s a great example.
Christine Zito:
And it is when you go there, you expect that you’re gonna get you know what you’re gonna get, and the same thing with the Arcadia High School District or that Arcadia School District. Yeah, there is consistency in the education, and when students graduate, whether it be from elementary to junior high to junior high to high school, and especially from high school into our future, they are well prepared and skilled. Yes, and that is and I I’m not just saying that, I mean that’s what I have learned. And it’s and and I don’t gosh, Dr. David.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
You know, I’ll touch on that culture real quick because so many people, and I and I like to emphasize this because people will talk about the the academic excellence, and it’s there, right? Uh and what you just said, we have evidence across the board for that. When our kids come back from college after you know going in their freshman year, the feedback is always across. No matter what level of student you were at Arcadia High, I was very prepared, and usually they’re surprised at how unprepared their roommates from other places are.
Christine Zito:
Well, you give them a chance.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
But the the culture is also it it kids have a place to belong in Arcadia. And it is truly a home and it’s a special place. And I I have to share this story because it it moved me um a couple years ago. We had a librarian, and uh she shared with me this story that that she had a student. I went in one day, and there was a a girl in in one of the aisles, and and she was on uh sitting down and in some tears, and I was like, What’s going on? She told me the story that that she had come in one day and was crying, and she didn’t know you know, it’s like, do you do you say something? Do you not? She went over, she sat down with her and just said, you know, can I is are you okay? Is there anything? And then she shared that her father had just died. I I get emotional cheeringness. And uh and that, you know, and and so the librarian just, you know, it’s like there’s no words you can say in that moment. It’s like, you know, that that’s gonna make everything okay. She said, Do you mind telling me about your father? Just, you know, like what tell me about it.
Christine Zito:
Oh my gosh, you’re gonna make me cry.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
She went on and on, just you know, really opening up about him and the special things he did, his hobbies and different things. And um, she thanked her and and you know, she left. The librarian spent the next week making a collection of books that resemble a lot of the hobbies and the different things, traits that that her that she shared about her father. And she made a little row of books in the library, and the next time that girl came in, she said, Hey, I’ve made this for you. If you’re having a bad day, just come in here and you can kind of sit and see it as a space to just you know be with your father. And the girl did does, and she did, and she spent a lot of that year coming in there. They were tears of joy, you know, at that point. They were tears of remembrance and whatever. But you don’t see that. Like nowhere when you do your your research for Arcadia schools and the academic excellence, and people spend a lot of money and they come here, yeah. You know, that’s what they see. But I I always want to share that other side is that’s what you get. Like you get a place to belong, and people care deeply. Our staff care deeply. We get to recruit the very best educators because of our reputation. People want to come here, and that’s at the end of the day, that’s what I want for my child. You know.
Christine Zito:
Well, yeah, especially when because I can think back in my in my years with school teachers that really came alongside me and helped me in in just negotiating life. Right. Especially when you lose a parent, that has to be that has to be tough. There’s so many things I so many things, but there’s two questions I wanted to to ask you. One for the parents and then one for the the students. Um and plus real fast, with you having your master’s in counseling, I bet you do a lot of a lot of emotional okay.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Actually, it’s it’s all the counseling. Because I don’t I don’t have a lot of answers all the time, right? But you can be with people. Yeah. And you can walk with them. So it is what I do.
Christine Zito:
And sometimes no voice is a good voice. I know. You know, and so okay, so parents. Yeah. How do you how can parents prepare themselves and their children for, let’s say, the first day of school? Not just practically, well, maybe practically and emotionally. Yeah. I mean, what is it? I mean, are you on I’m I I’m asking you to put on your little counseling hat here.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
The first day of school, we see this a lot, you know, and it’s just so natural. We have the cry, you know, the criers, the kids, and and I’m talking about the parents. Right. Not the kids. Um and it’s just such a natural uh, you know, it’s time it’s the natural uh new chapter in a kid’s life, right? And then the parents have had them in their home under their protection for you know all these years. Um, and it’s just gonna happen. I the best thing I can prepare parents is that uh remind them that this is what you’ve been preparing them for, right? You know, as parents, we’re we’re giving them these skills, we’re trying to make them more and more independent, you know, from birth all the way, you know, through. And they’re gonna be okay and they’re gonna be a little uncomfortable. But I have to tell you that, you know, every generation of parents swings back and forth, right? From too lenient to too tough to too, whatever I didn’t get, I want to provide for my kid, right? It just didn’t happen.
Christine Zito:
Yeah.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Right now, what we’re dealing with is uh parents that just want to bubble wrap their kids and they don’t want them to ever fall or have symbolically fall, I mean and encounter any pain or you know, uncomfortability or whatever. And I wish that was life. I would lie to coach parents because I’ve been there, I’ve seen you know, natural consequences is one of the best teachers in life. And but I mean by natural consequence, if you forget, if a child forgets to take their lunch and it should be their responsibility, not yours, you know, at a certain age, guess what? They’ll be a little hungry, they’re not gonna die.
Christine Zito:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
They’re gonna be okay, and that’s what’s gonna teach them to remember their lunch the next day. It it’s a good thing. Yeah, instead of running into the school. If you have to get to school and you’re hanging outside the fence to give them their thing, you’re you you’re not you’re taking away a really important learning opportunity for that child. Now, all parents, we do this. I’m guilty of it. We do it because we want the best for our kids, but I ask them to really slow down and start thinking about like what should the child be responsible for? And you know, and so that, you know, on the first day and when when they enter school, you know, ask them about their day, but don’t ask with a mind that you’re trying to fix everything or you want to jump in. You know, it’s natural they’re gonna have issues with other kids. It’s like listening to them, asking them the right questions of do you have any, have you thought about how you might manage that or how you’re gonna deal with it?
Christine Zito:
Well, do you know what? Now that you brought that up, how do you deal with the different ethnicities and the uh bullying? Yeah, you know, do you guys have a a plan?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
We do. I mean we have a bullying policy, and and you know, but a lot of what we bullying is really I mean, if there’s a clear definition and it’s really about repetitive, and and and that does happen, and we have you know really strict, you know, policies and ways to manage that. But it’s really a there’s a lot of just one-offs that’s not bullying, but it’s mean. You know, and just really managing, and that’s natural too. Kids as they come together, that you know, you have a single child in a household that’s never had to navigate anything with with that someone else, and now they’re in a class with, you know, they’re that’s not easy, right? And so, you know, it’s really about that education piece of really, you know, giving kids, walking them through what’s appropriate, what’s not, giving them the correct options. There’s always discipline, but the the real thing is how to correct it, because you want it to be better in the future, not just a discipline.
Christine Zito:
I think for me as a as a parent, I’m not a parent, but I mean um if I was a parent, it’s just safety. Yeah. You know, when it comes down to taking your child to safety. And I’m pretty sure you have protocols for anybody that comes onto the campus that wants to endanger the kids, you know. And and that’s what makes uh you know the the the leadership so important for for kids. So how can can how can parents how can you help them maintain good communication with the district and with the teachers? I mean Yeah.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
I’ll tell you uh what I start with is is parents and schools are in a partnership. And by nature, partnership means you have to get to know each other. There has to be a relationship, and relationship comes through talking, through meeting, and meeting and talking when the opportunities come up. And sometimes those are uncomfortable things. So when something you know happens in a classroom, the kid comes home and reports it to the mom or dad, and they want to, and here’s what happens more and more today, but that’s because of society. But we’re trying to counter that is people want to go straight to the top, right? So like I might get an email from a parent that, you know, this happened in my child’s class today, I and and I want you to fix it. And it’s like, I’m sitting in my office at district, you know, like I wasn’t there, you weren’t there as a parent. You know, like let’s you should always there should be a respectful way to deal with people. And and these are for adults, lessons for adults too, right? We go to the source. So the first thing this parents should contact the teacher, can we talk? You know, here’s what my my child shared. I want to hear about that and how we could work together to solve that. And and you you talk through it, right? That’s the first. And then we have escalation, like you know, if they’re if you’re not satisfied after that as a parent, you can go to the you know principal or the assistant principal and talk about it. But it should always start in about 95% of issues are solved if people will just go and have the respect. And it is uncomfortable, right? You know, when you step into that, like, oh, I want to bring this up, and you know, but but when you solve it with the teacher and the parent, not only did they just solve the issue for the kid, but they now have a better relationship moving forward, right? Because they they’ve they’ve they’ve worked together on trust.
Christine Zito:
How are you gonna trust somebody if they don’t communicate?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
That is it’s absolute trust, and there has to be a trust there. And so, you know, that’s the number one thing I encourage people is that you have to take the time. But people are so busy today, and society has gotten to this point, like you know, during the pandemic, where you know uh people aren’t happy at they have a bad experience instead of telling someone at the restaurant they go home and they just slam them on social media. It’s like, yeah, did you have a you know, did you give that feedback? Did you have a conversation? So we’re countering that, but we have to because part of being a healthy organization society is we are humans have to talk to each other.
Christine Zito:
I think people find it so much easier to yell rather than to sit and talk.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Or anonymous. Yeah. I get anonymous emails. The problem with that is it’s just like throwing a grenade in a room. Like, I can’t do anything with that because how do I follow up with you? How do I ask more questions? Because yeah, I want to improve everything. I mean, any feedback I get, you know, once I know it, I can’t unhear it. I want to do that. You’re not personally. You don’t know everything, Dr. David? Uh so you know, it’s I always tell people too, it’s like, you know, well, I’m afraid of retribution or it’s like we’re we don’t have anonymous, we’re partners.
Christine Zito:
Yeah, right?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Be part of the problem.
Christine Zito:
You know, and you have to be willing to approach the situation, whether you’re right or wrong. And I, you know, when I approach something, I gotta be ready to be corrected. Maybe I was wrong in the situation. Oh, okay, I see. Instead of going like, hey, you know, you did this to my kid.
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Even if we disagree to people, there’s always nuggets that I learn. Or it’s not like holistic disagree. It’s like, okay, I I I understand your point. I’ve walked away learning from it. So it’s just so important that we continue to remember that that we are in the people business and we have to be partners. And so parents need to uh, you know, just uh give that time because it’s for our kids.
Christine Zito:
And you’re constantly around people of of all ages. I I I I so respect you, Dr. David. Okay, so for students, how do you help them to um embrace the benefits that you bring for a higher education? Like I’m pretty sure do you ever have students come up to you and ask you for advice and things like that? So I mean what do you do to stand as that inspiration?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Yeah. I you know, right now is is I mean, these our kids right now have the greatest opportunity because the with technology, the the exposure and and the ability to find like colleges and higher education institutes of all kinds all over the country. I mean, we used to produce a sheet of where all of our students, you know, went to after graduation. I mean, it might have been two pages, which was pretty lengthy, but like over the last five years, it’s now like 20 pages. Because kids now have access to, you know, we have software at our high school in the in the in the um counseling center where they can go on and put like what’s the field they’re interested in. Do they want to how far do they want to live from home? Do they want a big school, a small school? Like a million different variables. And then it just produces like all these colleges that people have never heard of. But we have great universities and colleges all over the country, not just the few that everyone always mentions.
Christine Zito:
Does anybody ever leave the country to go to college?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
Oh, oh yeah. Oh, we have a lot, we have a lot too. Yeah, that is. But we now we we cover the United States, you know, globally, people are going all over. So when I tell people our graduates are truly becoming the leaders of the world in the future, they really are. Our TDI graduates are all over the map. And and that’s a great thing because listen, if if they’re gonna be in leadership positions, we’re in good hands.
Christine Zito:
Oh my gosh, we are so out of time. It is, you know what, what a great conversation. I just have to say thank you, Dr. David, and to your staff for giving our kids here in the in the city of Arcadia an opportunity for the future. And how you organize all of that is just pretty amazing. I know we just touched the surface. So you are gonna come back and do the best job in the world. So um, you guys are in the football season right now, right?
Dr. David Vannasdall:
We are, so follow us, you know, follow our uh uh social media unified school district and find out about all the events going on.
Christine Zito:
Well, I’ll have if there’s any events that uh Dr. David or the staff gives me, I will put it on arcadiafyi.com so that that they can always go to that resource and find out more what’s going on in our district. What a great interview! I this is thank you so much for being here. And you are definitely coming back because there’s so much we have to talk about. Once again, I’d like to thank our sponsors. I do it every every show. Longo Toyota and Lexus in El Monte. And again, you gotta go by there and check it out. Seven Star Financial with Francine Chu. We didn’t even talk about the edge of getting our students ready for the financial aspect of education. The Santa Anita Park and the Le Méridien hotel in Arcadia and Pasadena. Until next time, I’ll be waiting for your emails and your Facebook messages. Have a blessed day and make it a great week.
