Fourth in a series
Re “Like Old Shoes, Pearson and New Job a Dandy Fit”
[img]2596|right|Jon Pearson||no_popup[/img]As readers have noted from a playground photo featuring Jon Pearson, the well-liked, just departed principal of Culver City Middle School, “sedate” would not be his first identity.
Unless he has doffed his ball cap, combed his hair back and dressed in a suit.
Mr. Pearson is known for plunging in.
This is why the Torrance Unified School District recruited him a few weeks ago for a sprawling position condensed into few words, director of student services. Friends say this could be the job of a lifetime for the quintessential people person.
“For a school to be successful, there needs to be parent community access and involvement,” Mr. Pearson said.
During the past seven years at the Middle School, “I have tried to have an open-door policy, open doors, running tours, saying yes when people all and say ‘We just moved into Culver City. Can I come and check out the school?’ I say ‘absolutely,’ whatever we can do to help promote Culver City Middle School. We want to show the community what a great school we have and the great things that are happening here.”
Mr. Pearson said a portion of the credit for that upbeat, open-door schoolwide policy is attributable to strong parent involvement. “This is about parents being visible around the school, having parents in the classroom, having parents in the copy room, parents doing lunch duty, and parents feeling like, yeah, this is a good place, and then they tell their friends.”
