Hoover Elementary principal retires after 24 years in the Burlingame School District

“I didn’t need to know everything,” Booth said. “I just needed to be a really good leader and manager of people and keep them happy and productive. Then we would work together as a machine where you all make it work.”

After serving as principal at Franklin Elementary School for 15 years, former Burlingame School District Superintendent Maggie MacIsaac approached Booth and asked if she would be interested in a new adventure.

On a hillside right near the border between Burlingame and Hillsborough, a former elementary school turned Buddhist temple became just that. The district bought back the land and, when Booth visited the property and saw the Spanish-style white building with adobe roof tiles, she knew this was where she wanted to spend her next years with the district.

“I was so happy where I was, but when I walked on this campus, I was like ‘this is what’s going to keep me in education for longer,” she said. “It’s going to extend that time that I can do this job because it’s new, it’s a challenge.” 

When the elementary school reopened in 2017 — it closed in the 1970s — Booth brought with her more than 150 students and various staff members from Franklin. And she said she was able to stifle concerns and encouraged excitement about the new school.

Booth’s vision and direction, and her ability to communicate it to others, has long been identified as one of her attributes. It was just three years after she began working in education as a sixth grade teacher in Daly City that was identified by the superintendent as a successful administrator. 

Her biggest strength, it seems, is cultivating an environment that feels like a family. Leanne Uhrich, secretary at Hoover Elementary who also worked with Booth at Franklin, accidentally referred to the campus as “home” when sharing a story. 

“Did you hear that? She meant here,” Booth said, laughing outside her office — which is currently scattered with semifilled cardboard boxes she’s willingly avoiding at the moment. 

Since the campus opened, Booth has chosen a theme based on a children’s book to embrace throughout the school year. The first year was “In my heart” focusing on all the feelings that can be brought up during big changes. This recent school year celebrated student voice and expression through the theme “Say something.”

As tokens of some of the themes adopted, Booth would hand out miniature umbrella keychains or provide “Hoover Mailboxes” during the pandemic to family members, interweaving creativity and learning within the community.

“Kids are so moldable and so if you put them in an environment that feels safe, you’re going to see kids that you never thought are going to shine,” Booth said.

In a speech honoring Booth’s retirement at the June 11 board meeting, Superintendent Marla Silversmith said it was the retiring principal’s evident mission to amplify her colleagues and their work, taking a step back herself. 

“[She] may have been our fearless advocate, making sure Hoover got the resources it deserved,” Silversmith said. “But she also never lost her humble humanity, consistently connecting with people on a real, personal level.” 

Booth made it clear that she refused to take all the credit. 

“We believe in [the kids] here and I say we because it’s everybody,” she said, noting that Hoover’s success will continue on because of her colleagues. “I’m just a face for so much work from so many wonderful people.” 

Celebrating many lasts during the final week of school — last yard duty shift, last staff meeting, last bell tower ring — Booth says she’s not looking at her retirement as something sad, but as a wonderful ending bookmarking this part of her life. 

“I have a lot of living to do outside of here,” Booth said. “I always said I wanted to go out 100%.”