Educator Tanya Calabretta was born to wear the green and gold, from her high school alma mater St. Joseph in Santa Maria to her college choice Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, and now as the new principal at Live Oak High School.
The 36-year-old has spent her entire teaching and administrative career within the Morgan Hill Unified School District, first as a science and agriculture teacher and then the last three years as an assistant principal.
“This is all I know,” said Calabretta, who was department chair and then an assistant principal at Ann Sobrato High School before moving over to Live Oak. She replaced former principal Maria Reitano, who left after two years at the helm, starting in July.
“Things have been going really well so far. I’ve been working with my administrative team (including new assistant principal Stacey Helguerra) to plan for the year,” said Calabretta during a July 30 interview inside the Live Oak principal’s office.
She was proud that LIve Oak had just been granted its new 6-year WASC accreditation after visits in March and approval in June. The 1505 East Main Ave. campus is also in its third year as a PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions) school.
“Now, we can focus on our school climate and culture for students, staff and the surrounding community,” said Calabretta, a married mother of three who lives in San Jose. “We’ve been gearing up for the new school year and we’re ahead of schedule.”
Calabretta—who worked alongside longtime principal Lloyd Webb as well as Sobrato site leaders Debbie Padilla (formerly) and Courtney Macko (current)—said she wants to keep with Live Oak’s rich traditions and also engage more with the community and families to strengthen those bonds by using an open door policy.
“I like to lead by example,” she said. “I believe leadership should be individualized. I want to honor where people have been and where they are now, students and staff. We don’t all come from the same background. We need to understand that.”
While her teaching pedigree focused on science and agriculture, Calabretta was able to oversee all departments during her tenure as an assistant principal, where she built relationships with all staff members.
The first day of the 2019-20 school year is Aug. 15, at which time teachers will have students sign social contracts and explain their classroom dynamics. Prior to that, Live Oak—which has 1,170 students in all—will host freshmen and new student orientation 9am Aug. 9 and a parent-focused orientation 6:30pm Aug. 12.
“We’ll be excited to welcome all the students, especially the freshmen who will be on campus for the first time,” said Calabretta, who has 10 new teachers joining the staff of 80 (including custodial and classified). “We’re in a really good place. We were able to retain a lot of good teachers.”
Calabretta, who was a member of the swimming and water polo teams as well as the 4-H and FFA clubs while in high school, sits on the Livestock Committee for the Santa Clara County Fair as an FFA liaison.
