Teaching five periods one year, in control of an entire school the next. This is a basic summary of the career of La Rosa Principal Mr. Jason Rose, or who many may know as their Algebra teacher from Oak Avenue.
After teaching seventh and eighth grade Algebra students at Oak for 12 years, Mr. Rose left the intermediate school for an administrative job in Glendora Unified School District at the beginning of this school year.
“I miss the students and the staff from Oak,” Mr. Rose said. “It can be hard to say goodbye to a place which has been your home for 12 years.”
Then, the position as principal of La Rosa opened up, and Mr. Rose went through a stressful and challenging process to acquire the job.
“I had to do an interview with parents, teachers and administrators,” Mr. Rose said. “The biggest challenge was having the people who were used to me as a teacher now accept me as an administrator.”
As principal, Mr. Rose must account for the needs of every student in the elementary school, in contrast to just caring for one class at a time. He also has responsibility over school budgets, classrooms and the staff.
“The biggest thing I enjoy about being a principal is the chaos,” Mr. Rose said. “I enjoy having to jump from one issue to the next.”
Although he works solely at La Rosa now, he still has connections to the rest of TCUSD in his life. His wife, Ms. Katie Rose, has been teaching at Cloverly for 18 years, and currently teaches fifth grade.
“Working in the same district as my wife has been a wonderful perk,” Mr. Rose said. “We have been able to teach the same students. We share the same days off. It allows us to share stories, and we each know the characters involved in the story.”
Additionally, the couple’s younger daughter Taylor is in seventh grade at Oak. Their older daughter Riley is a freshman here at TCHS.
“It’s hard to have parents who both work in the district,” Riley Rose said. “It’s not an easy thing to do because everyone already has an idea of who you are.”
Since both daughters play soccer, softball and volleyball, the Rose family is usually on a field or court. When the Roses have free time, they attend pool parties with their family and friends.
Most of the time, however, Mr. Rose works to keep La Rosa a great school. Despite the adventures of juggling numerous tasks at once as principal, Mr. Rose admits that he does miss Oak at times.
“I would like to tell my students I hope I prepared them, and I hope they are having fun,” Mr. Rose said. “They were the best, and I hope they continue to reach for their goals and don’t ever settle for being second best.”
TCHS School Newspaper