New Beginnings at PVHS: Assistant Principal

It’s been a long year for everyone involved at PVHS, regarding the big switch from virtual schooling back to in-person schooling. As time goes on, people move in and out of the school, including teachers and administrators. This year, we have received a brand new assistant principal to help us get through these hard times.

Mrs. Arntz is the new assistant principal at this school. She is the administrator for our freshmen and freshman safety. She holds the responsibility for monitoring student behavior, student grades, attendance, checking behavior plans, and making sure to contact parents if there’s a fight or a situation related going on in the hallway or the courtyard. Additionally, she is also responsible for giving the students rewards. Upon perfect attendance, excellent grades, good behavior or just basic growth within a student, she sends out cards as a positive reminder.

It is her job to evaluate and supervise all Social Studies and Special Education teachers. She helps them evaluate what they could do better, answers any questions they may have, and coaches them. She also runs the “Star of the Month” program, which she loves doing. The Star of the Month program allows her to gather feedback from teachers and staff who were standing out and gives them a framed picture that gets hung up in the hallway. This is one of her favorite parts about her job because she loves positive reinforcement.

The assistant principal’s job is very different from the principal’s job. Our principal, Mrs. Veloz, takes on situations much bigger and broader than what Mrs. Arntz does. The principal is in charge of many things like schedules, putting the school together, finances, and dealing with the district. The principal is the higher-up to the assistant principal and that is the person you would get advice, feedback, or support from. Mrs. Arntz handles more of the in-school situations. But at the end of the day, when there’s a problem or something going on outside, they are all a team. “…we are all different personalities, and we work very well together because we are so different. So we can see it from different viewpoints or realities…so that is really helpful” Mrs. Arntz says.

Mrs. Artnz says that one of her biggest skills revolves around empathy, psychology and analyzing how people act in social environments. She worked as a Special Education teacher for many years as well as in the Emotionally Disabled Program, which helped children with behavioral issues and other learning disabilities. She likes to look at things from a different, creative angle. Being from Germany, she’s faced the trouble of having to look at things from a new viewpoint and having to learn a different culture.

She has been working at PVHS for over seven years as well as one year at a school in Las Vegas, roughly ever since she’s lived in the United States. She’s worked in many different classrooms and believes that PVHS is her home. She loves getting to interact with colleagues and having relationships with the teenagers, especially since she loves to observe the emotions of people. After getting her second master’s degree in Educational Leadership and successfully applying to work here, she knew she wanted to stay. Before moving to the United States, she worked at multiple schools in Germany. Germany had different rules and challenges but..regardless, she loved working there.  “But overall, what counts, in every culture…it doesn’t matter what country, is that you find ways to bring success to the student”.

She once tried to work in the school district, meaning she had her own office in the building and was able to coach teachers and participate in meetings, but found this wasn’t for her. She enjoys getting to see the students, having their energy around, and making them smile. “I only glow when I have students around me. I need people, I need people at all times”

As for when the pandemic hit, she felt COVID-19 affected her because she felt it left a negative aura in the air. With the mask mandate and having to keep a certain distance, she believes there is a negative aura between her and other people. Instead of giving warm greetings and asking students about their day, the new normal is “Put your mask up” and “Cover your nose”. She believes this creates a barrier and makes it harder to connect to a student. It also prevents people from being able to read each other’s lips and that makes it harder to understand different accents. Being from Germany, she’s not exactly used to everyone’s slang and she would rely on reading their lips to communicate. All in all, she believes her role would be much easier without COVID-19.

All in all, Mrs. Arntz is always willing to visit classrooms and answer questions. She will even share her own stories and talk about her personal experiences and spread the word. If you have any questions or are curious about her story, don’t be afraid to stop by and talk to her every now and then.