New Principal Phil Duncan sat calmly and mostly quietly, eating
his
”
old people food
”
as Paradise Valley Elementary students talked to him between
bites of homemade sandwiches or cafeteria burritos.
New Principal Phil Duncan sat calmly and mostly quietly, eating his “old people food” as Paradise Valley Elementary students talked to him between bites of homemade sandwiches or cafeteria burritos.
The conversation clipped along, from funny stories about their siblings to what they were going to be for Halloween. Duncan serenely nodded and chuckled, taking it all in.
Duncan, 57, said the lunch dates with students are important. These informal meetings with the students make them more comfortable so that when he has to act as disciplinarian they’ll be more open with him. The hard part?
“I have to eat two lunches a day,” he joked. Lower grade students have the first lunch, then the upper grades come out. So he eats his Togo’s sandwiches or dinner leftovers in two segments.
So far, the sit-downs with the man have worked. Students passing his lunch table wave hello to him and give him hugs.
“He’s sick. I really like him,” Derick Heninger, 10, said. “He gives me knuckle bumps.”
Juan Alfaro, 11, said he’s a really good principal.
“If you say ‘What’s up?’ to him, he’ll respond,” Alfaro said.
Home and School Club President Christy Gieg is impressed, too.
“It seems like he’s bringing a positive attitude to the school, which is nice. I think he’s going to do great things for the school,” she said.
“He’s got that tender-firm touch,” parent Amiee Consigny added.
Previously, Duncan led East Palo Alto’s San Francisco 49ers Academy, a magnet school for sixth, seventh and eighth grade disadvantaged students.
“We saw some great successes,” Duncan said of his time there, noting triple-digit Academic Performance Index score increases in three years.
Duncan spent the bulk of his teaching career in high schools, before becoming an administrator in 1998.
“Kids are kids. The only difference is the intellectual maturity,” Duncan said. “We have to clarify the boundaries and expectations but also make it known that there are some freedoms within those boundaries.”
Duncan, raised in Pasadena by a Navy man and a schoolteacher, said students come to school to have fun, and “fun is working hard.” Duncan attended San Jose State University on a football scholarship and was invited to tryout for the Los Angeles Rams and the New York Giants of the National Football League before deciding to get a degree in education.
Duncan, who said he has always loved children, has a calming presence.
“I put out fires. Excuse the pun,” he said. During his first week on the job, Duncan alerted residents across the street that their neighboring home on La Roda Court was on fire.
Ever a utility man, Duncan has explored a variety of hobbies outside the classroom, from making and selling chitlins to practicing Shiatsu massage. Duncan also played bass in a jazz band and the rock ‘n’ roll band “Midnight Auto Supply and the Stolen Hubcaps,” which traveled the Bay Area performing at events including the Gilroy Garlic Festival.
Duncan lives in San Jose with his wife and two school-age children. His son attends Cornell University.