New principal energizes Sonoma Valley High School

Toward the end of last school year, several Sonoma Valley High School teachers gathered a few times each week to discuss how they could improve the campus for students and staff members.

“We were in a really low place,” said math teacher Alexis Tamony. “We were begging for conversations about improving the campus culture and climate—and those pleas were falling mostly on deaf ears or silence. It was maddening.”

Tamony said that the teachers were relieved that Molly Kiss, then a vice principal, was receptive to their concerns.

“Molly was always willing to listen and try to problem solve with us,” she said. “And once she got the principal job [this summer], she jumped right in to listen to our concerns and ideas. She didn’t think she could do it all on her own. Molly really, truly listened and worked all summer to facilitate meetings and committees that worked on improving the school culture and climate. She was the perfect hire for our site.”

Tamony’s positive impression of Kiss’ impact was echoed by several others on campus.

“Molly has brought a new energy to our schools,” said living skills teacher Erica Chapin. “She understands our concern to create a structured, safe learning environment for our students, but also knows that it can’t be done without her connection with the school and all of us. She wants to get to know the students, wants to be a part of the classes, wants to be at events and listens to all the stakeholders. Students, families and staff all feel comfortable going to her when they need to. She is a fierce advocate for our school.”

Crystal Morgan, the school’s attendance specialist, says that while making her daily rounds, she routinely hears students praise Kiss.

“I have heard nothing but positivity coming from our students,” Morgan said. “How many high school students do you ever hear say, ‘I love my principal. I hope she never leaves,’ or say, with tears in their eyes, ‘Please tell me Mrs. Kiss isn’t leaving. She is so nice and I feel she listens and to and cares about me.’”

Kiss became aware of the school’s potential while serving as vice principal at SVHS during the 2021-22 academic year.

“I wanted to become principal because I felt like I saw all that could be here,” she said. “I saw a school of dedicated, passionate, talented educators and staff who really wanted to actively engage with their administration and approach problems together to create solutions. I saw a population of students and families that wanted to be heard and wanted to feel like there were opportunities to be a part of the process and conversations.

“And I saw a school that has so many amazing programs, from Career Technical Education to a great school counseling program, to the College and Career Center, to the brand-new Wellness Center this year. I felt like we could do great things if we all band together.”

Kiss feels that she has made three main improvements during her first few months as principal: enhanced relationships between administration and students, families and staff; launched the Wellness Center, which has enabled students to access mental health resources; and established systems of accountability that are helping to increase on-time attendance, reduce safety issues and create community at the school.

To create the systems of accountability, Kiss arranged for committees consisting of teachers and staff members to work during the summer to identify areas that need improvement.

“The amount of daily stress endured by Molly and her team in their efforts to provide a safer and productive learning environment for our community’s teens has been enormous,” said Devin Bowen, a campus supervisor. “Institutions by nature tend to not be transparent due to risk of embarrassment or ‘looking bad,’ but she has the courage to be honest with parents about the challenges we face and encourages parental buy-in to help assist with those challenges.”

Student bullying, harassment and intimidation plagued the school in 2021-22, and Kiss is attempting to address the problem by including discussions about incidents and how to report them during weekly advisory lessons involving teachers and students. School staff are also asking the school’s Peer Leaders Uniting Students group to consider how they can encourage each other to report such bad behavior and create a campus culture in which it is not tolerated.

“I would say her main accomplishment so far is that she has brought back accountability for student behavior,” said Andy Gibson, chair of the history department. “This was not the case last year. Maintaining student discipline in a clear and fair manner is so vital to the running of a high school.”

In an effort to raise students’ academic performance, departments have been developing their essential standards and are building common assessments so that there will be a similar experience and approach across all classes, no matter the teacher.

“This can help teachers collaborate and work together so they can discuss how their students are doing and any points of struggle, and get help from their fellow teachers,” Kiss said.

To enhance communication, meetings of certificated and classified employees—as well as combined meetings of the groups—have been implemented.

“Having communication avenues available to all groups at the school has been huge,” Kiss said, adding that she hosts office hours most weeks for student and families during which they can drop in without an appointment to introduce themselves, ask questions or express concerns.

“As administrators, we have been trying to have open doors for everyone and to be very visible, and out and about on campus so that everyone feels we are accessible and approachable,” she said. “And any time we are looking to make any kind of larger school decision, we’re considering how we will go about getting input from everyone and make sure that there’s ample opportunity for participation.”

Kiss developed counseling skills early in her career, and they have come in handy as she continues to implement these and other changes on campus.

“Probably because of her counseling background, Molly’s greatest gift is her ability to listen and make people feel heard,” Tamony said. “She can synthesize a lot of information and see situations from many different angles and viewpoints, and she never rushes to ‘solution-getting’ without listening to the input of students and staff. For a place struggling with a culture problem, this is huge. People need to feel valued and heard.”

Lisa Conner, a college adviser at the school, adds, “I believe one of the greatest indicators of a strong leader is recognizing they don’t know everything. Molly will listen to what a staff member has to say and then ask questions before making a decision. After two years of COVID and countless leadership changes, we are so happy to have a leader who is willing to listen and isn’t afraid to make difficult decisions.”

Kiss received a bachelor’s degree in sociology from University of San Francisco in 2010 and proceeded to obtain a master’s degree in counseling psychology from the school in 2013. She subsequently served as a counselor at Wallenberg High School in San Francisco from 2013 to 2018 and Lincoln High School in San Francisco in 2018.

At Wallenberg, Kiss began to take on leadership roles, including serving on the school site council, launching the first culture/climate team and coordinating the Advanced Via Individual Determination program, in which educators hold college-bound students accountable while providing them with academic and social support.

“All these leadership roles gave me a chance to learn more about the different programs and systems at the school, and I began to see myself as a leader,” she said.

In 2018, Kiss became assistant principal of Galileo Academy of Science and Technology in San Francisco. She and her husband, Lavon Shepard, had a child, Quinn, in January 2020 and decided to move from San Francisco to Petaluma due to its nearby parks, slower pace, good schools and more affordable housing. Initially, she commuted to her job at Galileo, but when the pandemic hit, she began working hybrid.

“I really wanted to work closer to home, though,” she said. “I enjoy living near the community that I am working with. I saw the posting for vice principal at Sonoma Valley High School, and it seemed like it could be a great fit.”

Her initial hunch was accurate.

“Moving forward, I’m invested in our community,” she said. “I plan to be here. SVHS has had a lot of leadership turnover, and I hope to provide stability and consistency for the school, as does our whole admin team. We are committed to the work and to our school community.”

She feels that the school’s main challenge is to keep the positive momentum going.

“We have had a strong start to the year, and even as things get tough or we encounter challenges together, I want to continue to support our teachers, staff, students and families so that we can continue the positive work we have started,” Kiss said.

Reach the reporter, Dan Johnson, at daniel.johnson@sonomanews.com.