New assistant principal in charge of curriculum and instruction Mary Streshly misses the classroom. “I feel as though being an administrator makes me spend less time with the kids,” she said. “When I was a teacher, I understood that kids really feel whether you plan ahead for the classroom and are really into teaching them and making them understand.”

Although she may return to the classroom in the future as an instructor for teachers at the university level, Streshly is currently enjoying her transition into the Lowell environment as an administrator. “Everybody is so smart and dedicated and seems to have a lot of passion,” she said. “All the students are very unique and have a lot to say!”

Brian Ho Handle with Care: Assistant principal Mary Streshly peruses books in science teacher Katherine Melvin's Environmental class.

Streshly’s immediate plan is to learn as much as she can about the school. “I want to understand how Lowell maintains its excellence not based on the rumors I’ve heard, but on the first-hand experience I plan to receive,” she said. She hopes to learn how Lowell creates an environment that motivates students not only to enroll, but to stay — even after exposure to a demanding workload.

In addition to exploring her new work environment, Streshly will keep up a few hobbies. Weekends will probably find her across the Bay; she currently has season tickets to UC-Berkeley football games. “My dad used to coach at Berkeley and I was always the little dorky kid throwing around the football during practice,” she said.

Streshly also loves the theater. “I recently took my sister and my niece to see Wicked,” she said. “I’ve always liked drama but I never participated in it because I was shy; maybe that’s why I’ve always loved it so much.”

Streshly’s shyness would probably come as a surprise to her former students in San Diego County, where she received a Teacher of the Year award. Later, as a program coordinator at Sequoia High School in Redwood City, Streshly devoted much of her time to an English and reading innovation program designed to help kids do better on tests such as the SATs. She also acted as the district language arts mentor, helping teachers format curriculum so that skills and content are not repeated as students advance in grade levels.

Streshly attended UC-Berkeley with a focus in public relations. She then went to graduate school and became a teacher at age 22.