After 10 years at Abraham Lincoln High School (ALHS) in San Francisco, Jordan Loey decided to take his own advice about growth and step outside his comfort zone. This year, he left his role as ALHS assistant principal to become Burlingame’s new assistant principal.
“One of the biggest things was professional growth,” Loey said. “I was always telling my staff and my students [that] in order for us to grow, we need to lean into our own discomfort. This was a really good opportunity for me to learn and grow, both personally and professionally, away from the school site and district that I’ve known my entire career.”
This wasn’t the first time Loey stepped out of his comfort zone. He began at ALHS as a social studies teacher working predominantly with multilingual students, but quickly took on more responsibilities, such as fundraising, planning events, advocating for teachers’ contracts, designing curricula, and leading districtwide training. Eventually, Loey realized he wanted to make a bigger impact on the student body, which led him to transition to an administrative role.
“One of my mentors was like, ‘Hey, … do you want to continue to impact the 160 to 180 students that you were serving? Or do you want to have an impact with the 2100 students at your school site?” Loey said. “Do you want to have an impact beyond your school site across the district? Because what you were able to do in your classroom role has already expanded outside of your classroom.”
Loey earned educational administrative credentials from San Francisco State University and applied to become the assistant principal of ALHS after the previous one retired. In that role, he was involved in everything from budgeting and facilities to athletics, student activities, and campus repairs.
“My connections with folks across the district [are] how I learned how to do all of these things. Anytime something came up, it was like, ‘Mr. Loey can take care of it. He’ll learn how to do it, and then it’ll get taken care of,’” Loey said. “So I just accumulated a lot of stuff to learn and do. A lot of my primary responsibilities were to keep the school running.”
At Burlingame, Loey focuses mainly on discipline, athletics, and supervision. During lunch, he manages the lunch line and walks around the school grounds to meet students and familiarize himself with campus grounds.
Outside of school hours, Loey said he enjoys doing yoga, going bouldering at San Francisco rock gyms, walking while listening to podcasts, and caring for over 50 plants in his apartment. He started taking care of plants before the COVID-19 pandemic and has grown his collection ever since. On his desk sits “Chief Leaf,” his first surviving plant, from which he frequently takes cuttings to give as gifts.
Loey’s goal for the year is to get to know the students and staff better.
“At my old school, I had 2100 students and 180 staff, so it took me a while to get acclimated,” Loey said. “That’s the learning curve of all of the systems that we have here, as well as students and staff, but everyone’s been super welcoming, and I really enjoy being here.”
