Q & A with Stratford’s Departing Principal, Christopher Juntti
Christopher Juntti has been Stratford High School’s Building Principal for the past seven and a half years and has been recently promoted to the position of Executive Director of Operations for Spring Branch ISD. He will move into this new position at the start of the second semester. I sat down with him to reflect on his career at Stratford and his expectations for the future.
Q: What are some of your proudest accomplishments?
A: “When I came in here years ago and did the interview, one of the things I wanted to do was Power Reviews [weekend review sessions for final exams], and we did. I think that’s a really powerful thing to show the commitment of the students and staff, that over the last two years we’ve had over 700 kids who’ve been here on a Saturday morning to study for their finals.
The Big Day [a community outreach and volunteering project that around 500 Stratford students participated in] was another great thing. I think it was a really visual way for people in this community to see how much the kids care. We talk a lot about the need to give back, but you have to put in into action, otherwise it’s just talk.
Another thing that I’m proud of is that we have been upping the rigor in our academic classes. When I got here there was this perception that in order to be successful you had to take Pre-AP and AP classes. And while if you do that, you’ll get a tremendous education, 45 percent of our students never take a Pre-AP or AP class, and yet around 92 percent of students are going on to higher ed.
I don’t care what classroom our kids step into; it ought to be well-run, it ought to challenge them academically to get the very best out of them, and I think that’s something that’s been a consistent commitment of ours. So I feel really good about that, and our student performance continues to go up.”
Q: What do you hope your legacy will be once you’ve left Stratford?
A: “We need the culture of the building to be something where kids really want to be here. Again, as I say often, I really feel like high school ought to be fun, and if kids want to come here, and like coming here, we can teach them anything we need to teach them. But you can’t do it if they’re not here, and you can’t do it if they’re checked out.
So I really feel like, on a daily basis, when I see the number of kids who tell me how much they love it here, if there’s a legacy, I’d love that to be my legacy: that the students love this campus, that they love to come here and feel cared for and valued while they’re here. I also think the fact that our students who may not take those Pre-AP and AP courses are still going on the higher ed and are being successful is a really good legacy.”
Q: You were recently promoted within the district, can you describe your new job?
A: “It’s called the executive director of operations, and what it means is there are four directors that I will supervise: the director of transportation, the director of maintenance, the director of planning and construction, and the director of custodial services.”
Q: Why do you think you are a good fit for this position?
A: “All of us have things that we perceive as strengths, and I feel like I’m really good at hiring good people and making people feel valued and really good about themselves in the jobs they do every day. I think that’s a strength of mine, and I feel like I’ll be able to bring that into the operations side of the district.”
Q: What will the transition process be like?
A: “Beginning the second semester of the school year, I will move into my new role, and the district has already approved Associate Principal Danny Gex to move into the interim role. This next semester, I’ll still be up here about three times a week signing off on paperwork, and I still see myself attending Stratford events and seeing our kids be successful. So although I won’t be in this office, people will see me around, but in a different capacity: rather than a driving force out front, I’ll be a supporter.”
Q: What do you see as the future of Stratford? The district?
A: “I think that they {the district} needs to come in and take a look at the challenges that we have and be innovative, take risks, and encourage our teachers to do that as well, to try to move the campus to the next level. I think there are some levels of student academic performance where we still have lots of room for improvement, and that’s where they need to focus.
The other parts are kind of taking care of themselves right now.For the district, everything we do is focused on T-2-4 [SBISD’s educational plan, which hopes to double the number of students graduating at a higher level of education], and I know people hear that, and they must roll their eyes, but it really is. Also, it’s been really important to see that all of the schools are more lined up can cooperate with each other more than they have in the past, so we need to continue to work on that vision and create some sense of unity of purpose and mission.”
As a student, I would like to thank Mr. Juntti for his career at Stratford. He has worked tirelessly to develop the atmosphere of “Stratford America,” and he has done so much for the students, school, and community. He will always be a Spartan.
See more quotes, information, and a story about Juntti’s departure and his time and legacy at Stratford at the SHS Oracle online.
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