As October draws to a close and costumed students await eagerly for the chime of the last school bell, I had the opportunity to interview our once-vice now new principal, Mr. Puentes, decked out in a Marvel Loki costume. In the interview (see the complete Campus News video), I asked him some questions concerning his background and his vision for John Marshall High School, with me receiving insightful and well-spoken answers in turn.
Here are some highlights:
A native born-and-raised Los Angeles resident, Juan Puentes is a graduate of LAUSD from Los Angeles High School. He later became a 9-12th English Teacher and afterwards an instructional coach for teachers, dedicating 20 years to his educational career. Community focused and driven, Mr. Puentes became Vice Principal of John Marshall High School in July 2021 as a means to support and give back to the neighborhood, building a school he would want his children to go to.
One of the ways he plans to make Marshall “fun” is by making education a challenge that is rewarding instead of grueling. Mr. Puentes hopes to create an engaging atmosphere that encourages students and teachers to want to be at Marshall, to create a system in which dedication to education isn’t rewarded with more work, but with harder, more challenging questions and instruction to ensure proper engagement and mental stimulus.
Mr. Puentes also wishes to install supports in our school for students with educational gaps and those who didn’t complete a class/course in their earlier years. While Marshall has afterschool tutoring sessions to remedy the issue, Mr. Puentes hopes for these support systems to be inbuilt within the system, stating, “School is for learning, so let’s do it within the school day.”
Mr. Puentes disclosed a greater, more ambitious plan: he wants to renovate the school’s old auto shop into a multi-room recreation center — a large building located at the back of the school. He hopes to clear out the makeshift storage building and spruce it up to allow for students to use it as a place of rest and to host activities. He envisions the recreation center to host clubs and events, and to be a place where students can hang out during free hours, such as lunch.
Ambitious with a vision, our new principal aims to transform John Marshall High School into a place students can look forward to coming.
