Magnolia School District, Anaheim
Frank Donavan started working in education as a teacher’s aide. The idea was to work his way through law school. But once he began working in education, he knew he wanted to become a teacher.
Fast-forward 28 years and Donavan is now the superintendent at Magnolia School District.
“It felt like a calling, like it was what I needed to do,” he said. “I then became a teacher for several years, and then I went into school administration. I am now in my 10th year as a superintendent and I view my role as not only a leader, but as an advocate and support to our incredible students, staff, parents and community.”
According to the nomination essay submitted by David Appling, assistant superintendent of Human Resources, “During the COVID pandemic, he led in the mandatory closure of schools on Friday, March 13, 2020 and the successful transition to Virtual Learning on Monday, March 16, 2020. He opened the first public computer science elementary school in Orange County with Robert M. Pyles STEM Academy, and then opened Juliette Low School of the Arts. His leadership has resulted in three California School Boards Association (CSBA) Golden Bell Awards, and recognition by the Learning Policy Institute at Stanford University as a Positive Outlier for those school districts with large subgroups and exceptionally high student achievement.”
Donavan describes a day in his life as busy and full of problem-solving, planning, implementing, directing and supporting staff in supporting students.
“I always find it interesting that people outside of education think that I have summers off and a lot of free time, but that is not the case,” he said. “We are always preparing for the following school year as well as intersession programs — winter and spring breaks — Saturday Academies and our comprehensive after-school programs. The day-to-day operations involve everything from facilities maintenance to making sure our schools and classrooms have what they need to support the teaching-learning process.”
He said there are many accomplishments he’s proud of — including opening the first computer science elementary school in Orange County with Robert M. Pyles STEM Academy.
“It is truly amazing to watch 4-year-old students type computer code, and then watch them show their parents what they have learned during Open House is a great experience,” he said. “I am also proud of our focus on the arts and one of our schools, Juliette Low School of the Arts is truly exceptional. The staff develop student performances that resemble something you would see on Broadway — literally!”
He said he’s also proud of their focus on the whole child with programs like music, the arts, technology, social-emotional learning and more.
“We have always had a focus on high expectations, rigorous academics and the use of effective teaching strategies such as Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI),” he said. “I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our focus on families. We have full-time parent involvement liaisons and social workers at all of our schools and they help us build and maintain positive working relationships with our parents, which results in greater school-to-home consistency for our students.”
Donavan said he is the first in his family to go to college.
“So my focus as an educational leader is to do everything I can to prepare all students to go to college,” he said. “Access and information are everything. For example, we have some of our sixth-grade students participating in the CyberPatriots program through Cypress College, which provides them with a college experience at a very young age.”
He said there is nothing more rewarding than seeing their students thrive in and out of the classroom.
“Teaching students to read and do math is almost as rewarding as watching it take place,” he said. “I visit every classroom in our district at least two times per year, and it [is] so rewarding to talk and interact with our students and staff. They all know me and they say hello to me, which is a wonderful experience that I always look forward to.”
By Jessica Peralta
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