Foothill has a new assistant principal, Katie Tedford. Although she’s new, she’s anything but a stranger. 18 years ago Tedford was coming right out of college, searching for the perfect teaching job, and she found Foothill. “Foothill really stood out to me […] because Foothill does things differently. Foothill is a place where the teachers work together, Foothill is a place where the teachers don’t teach the way it’s always been done,” she described.

Her first job at Foothill was being a teacher on special assignment, who helped integrate technology into all the classrooms. She then became the assistant principal, but left a while later to be the assistant principal at Pierpont Elementary and then Cabrillo Middle School. When asked to come work at Foothill again, Tedford said she “was very happy to.”

Not only does Tedford have lots of experience in education, she cares about her students immensely. “One of my most important goals is to get to know our students,” Tedford stated. She also believes that, “the most rewarding part of my job is seeing students that I have worked with in the past who are successful.”

A day in the life of her career starts with supervising the students and making sure they’re safe. She then visits a few classrooms to say hello and see what is being taught. By doing this she can help with assignments if a student should ever ask her, because she was there in the classroom as it was being explained. 

A lot of her day is spent working with parents and students, having meetings and planning activities, such as Back to School Night and the Magic Mountain Trip for seniors. 

Tedford has a 10-year-old son who she has a close relationship with. Through being a mom she has learned a lot about taking care of adolescents, and in turn treats all her students as she would want her own son to be treated. 

She advises students as well as teachers to have lofty goals and work hard, but also to make time to relax and enjoy life. “Foothill students and teachers are extremely hardworking, and I think they should be, I don’t want them not to [just] work hard, I want them to maintain balance.”

De-stress by doing something that makes you happy. For Tedford, every year she and her family spend time at Yellowstone National Park. She’s been traveling there every year since she was young, and it’s a special place for her and her family. 

Tedford stated that one of her aspirations was “to be someone who can help in bringing people together. Communication is one of my strengths. Communication is something that I think is really important, and so to help people communicate is definitely a goal of mine.” Tedford wants to make Foothill an even better place, and she believes connecting with others is the first step in doing so.