An Interview with Sonia Aramburo

There is a lot that can be learned from others in your field. 

As a teacher I have grown the most when I visit other classrooms and observe other teachers. There practices are easier to implement once I have seen them in action, and there is more buy in because I am able to see their results. 

The same could be said for administrators. As a future administrator, I believe there is a lot I can learn from great administrators already in the field. I was given a great opportunity to interview a local administrator who has done great things for her school and the community. 

Mrs. Aramburo is a well-respected and effective principal in Monterey county. She successfully led a school out of program improvement. Mrs. Aramburo has single handedly transformed multiple school communities by bringing unique experiences like the Turnaround Arts initiative to her students.

I learned so much from this amazing administrator and would interview another principal without hesitation. Thank you so much Mrs. Aramburo for being an inspiration to me and others within the educational realm!


Below are some of the interview questions I asked Mrs. Aramburo and her responses:

How many years have you been a principal? Ten

How many years have you been at principal at this school? Six

How many years of experience did you have teaching before you became a principal? Seven

How many years of experience did you have as an assistant principal, counselor, or district coordinator? I had seven years of the counseling experience and four years as an assistant principal. 

In general, how much time do you have to make decisions? Most times there is not much time to make a decision. It depends on the decision. Sometimes you have more time but as a principal you have to make decisions quickly.

Do you have specific guiding principles? My guiding principles are I’m very collaborative with my staff and we always keep our students’ needs on the forefront.

If so, can you tell me more about these? Every child receives core content instruction, they are never pulled out during core content, and they receive universal access, the families are crucial to a child’s education, and at my school, reading is fundamental. Students needs to be able to read to access core content. 

What was the role of external influences on your decision making? Our leadership team plays a part. I believe in shared decision making although I do make the final decision. I have a great team that I work with, I take things before the team, we discuss it, and decide what we can do.