Continuation School in Shasta Lake Ca
When Bill Gundy retires as principal of Mountain Lakes Continuation High School, he'll leave behind an institution named one of California's 14 models for continuation high schools, a type of academy that serves students at risk of not graduating from high school.
Mountain Lakes now has a graduation rate of 87 percent, an attendance rate of 90 percent, a growth of more than 200 points in state tests and a higher education enrollment rate of 56 percent among its low-income students, according to the most recent state data.
"Those are all reflections of a lot of hard work by the whole staff," Gundy said. "They all understand why we're here: To help kids be successful, academically, socially, to become problem solvers, to be good citizens. We're all on the same page on that."
Attaining those accomplishments was a gradual process, he said, involving the support of every member at the school. It began in 2005, when the Gateway Unified School Board shuttered Mountain Lakes' campus after an infestation of black mold.
The students were moved to part of Shasta Lake School's campus.
The board chose not to renew its contract with Principal Rick Barram and moved Gundy into the position from his role as principal at Central Valley High School.
Gundy said he'd worked with at-risk students early in his career at a vocational counseling firm in Orange County. But he first began working as a counselor in 1991, returning to the region where his family had vacationed when he was young.
"My family had a cabin in Sweet Briar, just south of Dunsmuir," he said. "I fell in love with the beauty of it ? the rivers, trees, mountains."
He said he sent a resume any time a north state job opening appeared. He was hired by the Shasta County Office of Education before becoming a counselor in the Gateway district in 1994. In 2000, he became an assistant principal at Central Valley, taking the big chair in 2002.
That presented some difficulties for him, said Joanna Snyder, who has taught at Mountain Lakes for more than 15 years.
"He was from a completely different world. It took some adjusting," she said. It was akin to a "physics, calculus teacher (who) ended up with a basic math class. ... He didn't know what to do."
By August 2005, when Gundy started, Mountain Lakes had moved into the Toyon Learning Center near Shasta Dam and Lake boulevards. About 70 percent of students attended, many for half-days, he said.
Snyder said most of the students who walked through Mountain Lakes' doors in August 2005 were sent from Central Valley, so they bore some ill will toward the principal who may have played a part in their transfers.
But, she said, he found his feet.
"He's changed. He gets to know kids, gets involved," she said. "(He) really has a lot of energy. He's so committed. He doesn't ever slack off."
April Humphries, 18, graduated from Mountain Lakes on Thursday. She said her first impression of Gundy was as an unflinching martinet.
It also was wrong.
When she first arrived from Modesto, behind on necessary credits, some girls began teasing her. After Humphries had a heated argument with them, Gundy taught her to ignore them, to "just walk away.
"He made me look at the big picture," she said.
Humphries said she's looking for a job for the summer before she begins earning her astronomy degree ? she's headed to Shasta College in the autumn.
Snyder said Gundy brought an emphasis on higher education, especially college, to the students at Shasta Lake. He also focused on attendance, providing incentives such as longer lunches for stellar records.
Gundy said the school began requiring all students to stay for a full day until they had caught up on their credits. That brought the attendance rate up 20 points to 90 percent in 2011-12.
Around 120 students attend Mountain Lakes each year, Gundy said. In 2009, about 56 percent of graduating students from poor families enrolled in higher education, the first and only year available from state data.
He's also pushed teachers to embrace technology, she said.
Gundy said all his teachers and staff work as hard as he does ? Mountain Lakes wouldn't function without any of them. He said the office secretary fills in several roles, custodians keep on students to not slack off.
Michael Alcobendas, 16, said he'd spoken Friday with a campus security guard about his progress with his credits.
Ashley Winstead, 17, said Gundy and counselor Abby King changed her life.
"If they weren't there I wouldn't be here," said Winstead, now seven months pregnant. When she told them about the child, "they just sat me down, didn't yell ... King told me, 'If you don't get your life together and don't go to school, my baby's not going to have a good life.' "
She's now on course to graduate, a fact she also credits to her favorite teacher, Mary Nash, who was very demanding of Winstead in her history classes.
Gundy said the teachers also are important, and must adapt to each class' needs, which change every year.
In 2009, the school was named a California Model Continuation High School, a title a school holds for three years. The school won twice in the past: once in 1994 and once in 2003. It recognizes programs that transition students to careers, individualize instruction, provide strong guidance and counseling and flexibility for students' varying needs.
"When an award comes out like that, it belongs to the staff," he said. "It recognizes that you put a lot of effort into your program."
Gundy said he plans to travel around the country after this school year ends, though he hasn't picked a particular first destination.
Source: https://archive.redding.com/news/mountain-lakes-continuation-high-principal-leaving-on-high-note-ep-375155129-354432431.html/
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