Interview with Christopher Hauck Ed.D, SBCSS Principal

This month focus will be an interview with Christopher Hauck, Ed.D., principal of Bob Murphy Community School with the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools. 

Transcript

 Don  00:05

Hello, my name is Don English, Director of Children Deserve Success and executive director of the San Bernardino County Wide Gangs and Drugs Task Force. And I want to welcome you to our Children Deserve Success Podcast monthly, we will be sending out these recordings regarding all things related to Child Welfare and Attendance, School Attendance Review Board, Foster Youth Services, McKinney Vento Homeless Programs in our county, and the San Bernardino County Wide Gangs and Drugs Task Force. This month focus will be an interview with Christopher Hauck, Ed.D, principal of Bob Murphy Community School with the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools. Dr. Hauck it is my distinct pleasure to have you here today. I really appreciate you as a colleague and a friend and as a leader. So before we start, if you were please introduce yourself, and tell us a little bit about what you do for San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools. 

Christopher  01:06

Well, good afternoon, Don, thank you. First off for having me here. My name is Christopher Hauck and I am a principal here in the east valley for alternative education program. I'm a principal of our Bob Murphy Community School in Rialto Vision Community School and Colton and the STEAM Academy and San Bernardino.

Don  01:28

Outstanding. Can you tell me a little bit about the youth you serve and explain how students typically are enrolled in a county community day school? 

Christopher  01:37

Well, we serve at promise youth and those students are typically coming to us in a variety of ways. Typically, they are referred through the expulsion process, or the SAR process. Sometimes we have parent referrals. And then there's other times they are referred by  our San Bernardino probation department. Those are the most common ways we get students. 

Don  02:06

Dr. Hauck what is the biggest misconception or fear parents may have with their child attending a county community day school. 

Christopher  02:15

Um, the biggest one? Well, there's actually a couple parents oftentimes don't feel like our campuses are going to be safe. Which just to be candid, we have to take more precautions, I think a lot of times just due to the nature of the students that we have there. So we try to be extra, extra cautious and preventative in our safety measures. Parents sometimes feel that, you know, we don't hold students accountable for their learning, which is obviously not true. But there's, you know, that's a misconception parents have like, Oh, you guys aren't learning anything? Well, if we're going to be candid about it, a lot of times the students that we have coming into our programs, they have a lot of pre existing academic deficits. So it might appear that these students are not really, you know, working on something or if it's their grade level. But you know, if you're in 10th grade, and you read at a third or fourth grade level, we got to meet you where you're at.

Don  03:23

Absolutely. And, you know, I, as a former Community, school, principal, and teacher for many years understand that. And understand too, that we need to reach the whole child. And so academics is one portion of it. But there are many other portions, be that, whether that be mental health, or even some students who have physical conditions that we need to attend to. So I do understand the scope and nature of your work. 

Christopher  03:50

Hey, can I jump in real quick, absolutely mental health the past two years, the number of students that I've seen on our campuses, not just my campuses, but you know, my fellow colleagues, my principal colleagues, the need for mental health services, and our student population is at an all time high, I've never seen it like that. We're very fortunate to have our clinical Counseling Center. And our clinicians have been instrumental in just making it through a school day, at times, you know, because our students are coming with just severe deficits on all kinds of levels. But, you know, you can't get a student to learn if they are hungry or if they're, if they're on medication for some particular mental health challenge. Or it's, it's been on the rise and that COVID pandemic, which we are still technically in only exacerbated, exacerbated, you know, the pre existing issues. So, sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off, but I just, I'm telling any and everybody I see that particular fact because these kids are out here struggling, and we're trying to meet their needs. 

Don  05:04

Absolutely. And so we talked about in our districts, wellness centers. Yes. And so you alluded to that, as you spoke about the convincing clinicians in the county programs, I know that there are a lot of districts who are jealous of the amount of support that we have, quite frankly, they don't have that level of support on their campuses. And so I'm really glad that you did cut me off, which wasn't really you cutting me off, but really interjected the importance of understanding mental health issues. And I do know, and you brought up a great point, if our kids aren't properly fed, or if they don't have clothing, you know, basic Maslow that goes back to basic needs, then how can we expect them to concentrate in school. And so when we look at interventions as it relates to students being successful, we have to again, look at the whole child and meet them where they are, as you alluded to earlier. I do know that we are very collaborative at the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools office, we work with many different organizations. So next question I'd like to ask you is how do you work hand in hand with the county's probation office? And why is collaboration so important with our community partners, and county community day schools?

Christopher  06:23

Well, I can kind of go on ad nauseam about that. But our probation officers and our probation department are instrumental partners are crucial. They even even today, we're in summer school or in summer time, and we're preparing for the school year. And I'm in contact with my probation officer, I'm learning about which students have been recently detained or students that have been detained at my you know, earlier in last school year that may or may not be coming back. Which students that got detained over the summer. They, they are a pivotal source of information for us. Because you know, the drama that happens on a school campus, it is I call it choreograph chaos, right. And a lot of times, the drama that happens on a school campus is brought often from the community, right? Social media, Johnny and Anthony got into it on Snapchat, or Instagram or what you know, and our probation partners will often know, like, Hey, did you know that you know, and they're, they're helping us be proactive for for current situations, and or potential situations out in the community that are brought to the school environment. So that's, that's super important. With our community members, we are always trying to work with nonprofits and, and even internal community resources like the children deserve success network, the homeless education program, you guys provide us with shoes and diapers I was literally having a conversation with with Brenda Doughty before this interview about what y'all got lined up for as like, okay, she's like, Oh, we're gonna get some diapers, I'm like, Okay, I'm on that. Because, you know, this particular school year, or this past school year, I had at least six to seven parents, or teenage teen parents, that, you know, ladies were pregnant or pending father's coming. So having those opportunities to bring them resources, whether there's food or diapers or connections to job, you know, that, that, that that directory that Kavon puts out every week, or every month, you know, the it's when you're dealing with a population of students that are in need. I'm not too proud to get any resource that I can. So and that's what our students need. They might not always, overtly say that. But things like our counselors they know our teachers they know and in our, in our network of friends and agencies and mentor.  Agencies, like you said, the whole child, we're trying to educate the whole child and it's more of a wasn't my phrase. I feel like now more than ever, I'm running an academic rehabilitation center. 

Don  09:41

Wow. I'll tell you, Dr. Hauck when you were you talked about resources. And I know that when I was a principal, and you were in another roll, you served in another roll with our County Office of Ed and you were instrumental in providing resources to our school campus. And when you talk about um, Really not being ashamed or embarrassed to go after those resources, it warms my heart because the resources aren't for you, they're for, the people you serve. And oftentimes when I talk about students, I talk about families and community because, you know, we can do the best to rehabilitate a kid, let's say if they're in our juvenile poor school. And we have recently developed what we call a pupil transition report. So that, you know, the importance of that, as Director of child welfare and attendance, which is one of my roles is to make absolutely certain that we're making sure that kids are getting enrolled in school within five days. And so we have missed the mark on this year, we were at a percentage rate that I was not happy with. However, with fidelity, we will be rolling out that pupil transition report, but it's really vital that we get our kids in school because we know that that for many, if not most, is the by far the safest place for them to be. So really appreciate you. Just being a part of our CDS program. And of course, our foster youth services coordinating program, and our homeless education program, we strive to serve the whole community 

Christopher  11:06

Oh you guys do for sure. 

Don  11:07

Thank you. 

Christopher  11:08

We were grateful. 

Don  11:09

What is it about a county community day environment that enables vulnerable typically disengaged at Promise students to thrive?

Christopher  11:20

There's a lot of answers that could be given. But I think the top answers for me would definitely be our smaller campus size. And our I would say the majority of our teachers and staff they resonate and connect with the students. And that's when you're a disengaged youth, like you said, you're not interested in going to school. Right. But if you got to Mr. Gibbs or Mr. Hawley, or Mr. Hernandez or, you know, I could go on and on that, you know, they're gonna call your house and be like, Hey, where are you at? Not like, Hey, this is such an No, no, like, Hey, man, get your butt out of bed. You know, that's what they need. And that's what they respond to. And, you know, you know, Anthony, who's going to x, traditional high school with 3000 kids and, you know, 15-16 year old young man who's around what 1200 young ladies, he, he needs somewhere a little smaller, right? Or Johnny, who's in such and such community and may be affiliated with such and such gang. He doesn't know he doesn't need to be in educational setting where every day, he's got to duck, skip dodge five enemies, you know, or five different hoods, you know, whatever. Or there's Sarah, who she can't read, she made it to eighth grade, made it to 12th grade made it to ninth grade, 10th grade, whatever, when she was passed through? Well, you know, when you have a smaller class size, it's kind of it's easier to not high, you know, or be seen, I guess a better way to say it, because, you know, a traditional high school and it's no knock on noon, but if you got a teacher seeing 200 -300 kids a day, versus a teacher that is with the same 20-25 kids a day. It allows a more personal and intimate relationship or rapport reported to be established a bond. And I think that's one of the biggest things that that, you know, our program brings, you know, just even for myself, I'm not trying to aggrandized myself or patting myself on the back, but I can walk around my school, which I think is beautiful. I love it. But there's only going to be 100 - 120 students, and I know pretty much all of them by name. You know, Hey, Johnny, did you get your homework done? Or Hey, Johnny, How's your sister doing? Or Hey, Anthony, did you get that job or, you know, that connection and that's important to them. It's important to me it's important to our staff. So I think that that that smaller size and that personal connection is what a lot of our students need because you know, when you when you got a lot of things or challenges going on in your life, you don't want to be in line. Like at a DMV or bureaucracy to be seen or get help, you know, oh, I can go to Mr. English he'll help me or I can go to Miss Garcia she'll help me Oh, Dr. Hauck helped me you know, Miss Crawford will help me you know, it's important. 

Don  14:49

Wow. You hit the nail on the head when you talked about connection over content, which is really 90% of what we do and I you may hear me reference we because I have been in student services and community schools, probably for 20 of my if not 23 of my 28 years, with San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, so understand that intimately. And do understand that that connection is everything. Yep. And so, you know, I do know on own our campuses, and kudos to leaders like you, that students no longer feel invisible. They know someone cares, as you say, and I'll tell you this, for for all of our our personnel who work in on the frontlines, at the site level, I've had the opportunity to see some of our kids who are now 25-26, I saw one at a rams game. And as you well know, you're not going to a rams game unless you have some kind of income, or connections, right? And he was sitting there with his company at a rams game saying, Mr. English, can I get you a soft drink. So it just warms my heart, what we do every day, really changes lives and transforms lives through education, which is the vision of the superintendent of San Bernardino County, Dr. Hauck talked a little bit about the type of services opportunities, including post secondary skills and other vocational skills that students benefit and learn from at a county community day school. 

Christopher  16:23

Well, I'm going to speak from a personal perspective, because like I said, I'm fortunate enough to be principal, Bob Murphy Community School, and we are the largest community school that we have in our alternative education program. And we have three CTE classes currently right now. So there's a auto shop, auto transportation careers, we have a health science careers, classroom, and we have a computer science cyber security class. And that's in addition to other extended opportunities that we try to provide through other agencies, or educational institutions, like Valley College or UCR, or, you know, some of the trade schools like UTI, you know, making our making those opportunities evident and visible for our students. And we recently hired within the last two years and academic counselor to let students know that graduating high school is not the end, it's the beginning. We expect you to graduate like that's, that's an expectation, not a maybe if or a coin flip like you go and graduate. And then what are you going to do with your life, eventually, you're going to be a mother, you're going to be a father, you know, God willing, and you got to provide for him. You know, you got to provide for your family. That's what a man does is what a woman does, that's what an adult does, you know, and one of the best ways to do that is to be gainfully employed. So giving them those options that they can see for themselves, when a student doesn't see that they have any other options. It's kind of a recipe for disaster. So making sure at least exposing them and then if we can expose them and they show interest, then we follow up with with support.

Don  18:23

Absolutely, I tell you, one of the things that I'm happy about in my time, with San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools is that we actually started to graduate students prior, we would add for reinstatement to districts in the district will provide a diploma. But now the County Superintendent of Schools provides diplomas for students who oftentimes are first generation students who parents and others in their family have never received a high school diploma. What does that mean for families and our students to be able to participate in such an outstanding ceremony?

Christopher  19:08

I'm gonna go ahead and kind of answer that in a dual fold way. Because it's important for the students, but it's also important for the staff. The it's a culminating event, right, you know, imagine, I, I'll take it back a little bit further. I used to work for another county office, many moons ago. And they they graduated students, and when I started here, nearly 20 years ago, I was like, Okay, why, why? What's going on? You know, just because I saw the impact of that graduation slash culminating event that, you know, as as a teacher, you're so invested day in day out with these students. You're going through the ups and downs and the days where it's a high mess and you don't always get to see the fruits of your labor because we're invested in these students. Like they're ours, you know, what the educational or legal theory of education were is a local parent. So that's Johnny is my little son, you know, Anthony is and Samantha and you have a relationship, it's a real authentic relationship. So, you know, can you imagine helping Johnny get to the finish line and then not be able to see him on the podium with get receive his metal like it's, it's, it's a, it gives you pride and just stamina to keep going and seeing, seeing it through through the hard times. And you know, that's a selfish take on the teacher staff side, but I think it's important, but also on the student side. A lot of these students have not experienced success. And success for most teenagers, one of the biggest culminating events or accomplishments they're going to have in their lives is to graduate high school, you know, graduating high school, getting a job getting your driver's license, right, those are the big ones. So for a young, young man or young woman that, you know, they may or may not get a car, they may or may not have, or get a job, but you know, graduating high school, that's something that most you know, we hope most of our young men and women are going to do and to walk across that stage and to be able to beat their chests and say, Look, Mom, look, Dad, look, Tia, look, you know, Granny's I did it, that's huge. It instills a sense of pride, it instills a sense of, of resilience that they can achieve, and that in and with hard work and dedication, and, you know, support that, you know, it just opens up your vision. And, you know, success breeds success in my mind, you know, when you see yourself being successful, you believe that you can be more successful, you know, so it's, I don't know, I know, we started in 2015 16, or was it 1415, whenever it was, that was one of the highlights of my, my educational, you know, my professional career. And every graduation is special. I've been in all of them. And, you know, even through the pandemic, that the drive through graduation, when you see those young men and women walk across with just pride in themselves. It's like nothing like it, just like you said, about the young man that you saw at the Rams game. We often don't get paid in real time. But when your kids come back, you know, I had a young man, a couple months ago, he came back and he was in my classroom at 2005. You know, he was married, had three kids, and he had a job. And he, he was just proud of himself and to see that he wasn't, you know, detained or incarcerated. You know, he was living a good life and providing for his family. I believe he was a plumber or something, or air conditioning, something like that. But you could see that his pride in his accomplishments were, he felt them genuinely. And he connected part of his success back to Bob Murphy. And he just wanted to say thank you. 

Don  23:45

Wow, really, you talked about building efficacy, a belief system within our students. But, you know, I always when I did WASC visits, or even on our campuses, if we had people who did not believe that we should hold our students to high standards, that always bothered me, and you talked about that we have to have high expectations. We cannot water down our standards. And because our kids knowing our kids know where we are being authentic. And they've always been told that they can't do certain things, and we know they can. And so I just value as a colleague, you know, your heart is in the right place, and your leadership is beyond reproach. So one last question. I'd like to ask you kind of threefold maybe hopefully not, but maybe being one. How did your time and many don't know you come from the central office with San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, and many will say why would he leave the central office to go to the site level and be a principal? So that's one part of the question. And then the other thing is you kind of lose into the joy that you get we're working with our air promise you, but really want to focus on what made you want to go back to the site level and be intrical as it relates to students on a day to day basis? 

Christopher  25:17

Well, I will try to be concise and brief. I started here in San Bernardino County as a middle school teacher and a high school teacher. And then after about 10 years, I went to the central office and became the accountability and assessment manager, dealing with El Cap English learners, students with disabilities, you know, all the programs and you know, title one school site councils. But at the school site, I was able to have that connection with students, right. And you got to see the fruits of your labor. You know, I can I know if I call Johnny's grandmother every day and say, Why is Johnny late? You know, he's gonna eventually overtime gonna start getting to school on time, right? So you see the fruits of your labor, whether it's instructional or whatever it may be. But at the central office, it's, it can be very overwhelming, and I'll put it to you like this, like at the school site. As a teacher, I'm responsible for 20-25 lives in room 107, not even the whole campus. Right, right. So I can see, and I get satisfaction, and I can see the fruits of my labor with those 25 kids in room 107. Well, Mr. Bowser at the time, my former principal, he was responsible for room 107, 108, 124, you know, he had a bigger responsibility, scope of responsibility. So he had more satisfaction in the inputs. Were only for Bob Murphy, right. But when you get to the central office, your input is greater. It's not just Bob Murphy, or room 107. It's Bob Murphy, its vision, its first street, it's Eighth Street as juvenile hall. It's all the special education classrooms. So you have all these people, you know, in classrooms and colleagues reaching out to you, and you're trying to respond to all of them. And if you're working on things like El Cap, El Cap, super important, right? But the El Cap implementation is three to five years. So you're working on things that you don't always get to see the fruits of your labor. And for me that need to that satisfaction from seeing the fruits of my labor helps me continue to move forward. So now in in relation to your question, how has it impacted my my professional career being back at the school site, I feel like I have a I see the micro and macro. I know what the L caps for and I was gonna say counselors for and I know how they relate to each other. I see the importance of things from a macro perspective and why these things are necessary are the restraints or regulations. But I understand the realities of accomplishing said goal, whatever it would be. I know we're kind of running tight for time. So I'm gonna go ahead and just jump to your last question. As far as any thoughts for our districts, I just like them to know that we are truly your partners. You know, if you imagine a a classroom, 20-30 students and that one student debt you have to get out of there. All of our school classrooms are comprised of the students that were not successful at your school. So just understanding how incredibly difficult how difficult our educational setting is just just being cognizant of that, and respecting, respecting that and honoring it. And we are here to truly serve you and your students. And, you know, we just need to work together in all all respects. Dr. Hauck, I like to thank you for your time. But more more than that, I'd like to thank you for the work that you do for continuing to change lives. And really your your staff as a whole, you know, the importance of collaboration, but really the importance of seeing our students of who they are and what they bring, and then really encouraging them to understand that they can be successful. So I want to thank you for being here today. It's been my pleasure. Well, I want to say thank you as well. You know, we've been partners in this for nearly 20 years and I've seen all the great you great work you've done on the student services side and with you know, we work on with the same kids and I know your heart man and you know, I love you on personal level anyway, so you my man. 

Don  30:02

Thank you, my man. So listen, I want to thank you all for listening. We hope you find this information valuable. If you have any topics or questions that you would like addressed, please email them directly to cwa@sbcss.net. As always, we hope you stay well and continue to transform lives through education.