New superintendent comes full circle: Joan Rosas returns to San Mateo-Foster City Elementary School District

She is three weeks into her return to the local elementary school district where she established herself, prior to leaving in 2011 to be assistant superintendent of Student Services in the office of San Mateo County Superintendent Anne Campbell.

And though she appreciated the time working at the county Office of Education, when granted the opportunity to return to the elementary school district from where her four grandsons graduated , she jumped at it.

“This is a very innovative and exciting place to work,” said Rosas.

The 55-year-old San Mateo resident was born in Denver, but graduated from Hillsdale High School, before going on to get her undergraduate degree in Spanish from California State University East Bay.

Initially, she said it was not her intention to pursue a career in education, but eventually developed a sense that she might have something to offer young learners, so she went back to get a secondary degree from the University of San Francisco which allowed her to teach.

Rosas, who now has more than three decades of working in education, said she has an insatiable desire to positively impact the lives of the local community.

“This is the greatest opportunity I have to support students and families,” she said.

As she rose through the ranks of the education system from teacher, to principal, to administrator and eventually superintendent, Rosas said that same outlook has guided her.

In applying her expertise, Rosas was able to combine her love for foreign language and passion for education in founding Fiesta Gardens International School in San Mateo, while working for the local elementary school district, where she served as principal prior to accepting a promotion into an administrative role.

In returning to the district, she said she has appreciated the opportunity to see how the programs she helped found or develop during her previous tenure have grown to fill the needs of students.

“It’s a pleasure to see the work put into place years later,” she said.

Nearly 75 percent of the staff Rosas worked with during her previous time at the district are still employed, which has helped ease the transition back into her former workplace, said Rosas.

During her time away, Rosas ran the Student Services department for the county Office of Education, which has helped her develop a vision of the types of the services she hopes can be implemented at the elementary school district.

The San Mateo County Office of Education serves students who are incarcerated, expelled, require special education or want career technical training, which Rosas said broadened her perspective on the needs of local students.

She said her exposure to serving such a diverse population of students aided her in creating concepts for programs which might prevent some students in San Mateo and Foster City elementary schools from derailing their education.

Catering to the social and emotional needs of students is one of her primary goals as superintendent, said Rosas.

Other points of emphasis include meeting the demands of constantly evolving state education requirements, developing early literacy programs for young students and creating more innovative curriculum, said Rosas.

Perhaps the most pressing and immediate issue though is leading the district through its quest to find more classroom space to accommodate growing enrollment, said Rosas.

Officials are leaning toward asking residents in San Mateo and Foster City to support a tax on the November ballot which would finance the construction of new classrooms throughout the district.

A subcommittee formed to investigate the variety of available options to increase classroom space has developed a strategy to solve most of the district’s capacity and equity concerns, with the exception of how to fix overcrowding in Foster City elementary schools.

The district Board of Trustees recommended officials negotiate with owners of Charter Square Shopping Center in Foster City in an effort to purchase the site and build a fourth elementary school.

Representatives from Westlake Realty, which controls Charter Square, have been open and receptive to negotiations, but no agreement has been reached, said Rosas.

Should the two sides not be able to come to an agreement, Rosas said it is likely the district would still need to pursue a bond measure, which would subsidize construction of new classrooms on existing Foster City elementary school campuses.

And though San Mateo residents can expect to be asked to support tax measures on the same ballot to benefit both the city and school district, Rosas said she believes there is a general willingness to subsidize efforts to improve the education of local students.

“The San Mateo and Foster City communities have also been extremely supportive,” she said.

Beyond her role as an administrator, Rosas said it may not be uncommon for people to see her pulling away from the district office wearing a cowboy hat, in a big red pickup truck on her way to visit her four horses.

Rosas’ husband Tom recently died, and she has taken up care of his horses to maintain his legacy.

She said the past seven months have been filled with opportunities to expand her knowledge of how to care for, exercise and enjoy owning three quarter horses and one Arabian horse.

So even as the educator returns to familiar stomping grounds, she continues to learn, same as the students she serves.

austin@smdailyjournal.com

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