Rural school near Felta Creek has new leader
In the administration office at West Side School, a rural elementary school in the Felta Creek watershed, hangs a hand-colored poster titled: “Read All About Me!”
It’s a common assignment at West Side, allowing students to get to know each other.
Like others, this poster describes a West Side regular: Kris Menlove, the new superintendent/principal. It lists Menlove’s birthplace (St. Louis, Missouri), her favorite color (blue) and her favorite book (The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush).
In the heart-shaped spot on the poster headlined: “I show others I care by …” Menlove wrote “… helping them, listening to them and being kind.”
Menlove was educated in Arizona and recently served as the director of curriculum and instructional technology for the Cloverdale Unified School District.
She heard about the opening at West Side from a friend and reached out to former superintendent/principal Rhonda Bellmer, who retired at the end of the 2017-2018 school year.
“She was very gracious,” Menlove said about Bellmer, who gave her future replacement a tour of the campus and answered questions about the school.
“She convinced me that West Side is a small school with a big impact,” Menlove said. “It’s not only the beautiful location, but there’s a dedicated group of professionals and stellar parental support.”
Patricia Bertapelle, president of the West Side Union School District Board of Trustees, said, “We are delighted to have Mrs. Menlove join our West Side family. The board of trustees felt she had the perfect easygoing personality to fit nicely into our small rural school with its unique advantages and challenges. She is approachable and committed to keeping West Side one of the gems of the county school system.”
Menlove has two jobs. As a small district superintendent, she and her elected board are responsible for as much recordkeeping and compliance as any large district. “It’s the principal side iof the job that’s the heart of it,” said Menlove, “working with students, families and teachers and building relationships.”
Menlove says she plans to, “build on what West Side does so well, a solid curriculum and an enrichment program that works on building the whole child. We focus in test scores, but we want to offer things that go beyond that. How are our students involved in the environment? The arts? Interacting with each other?”
Like most schools in the area, West Side has a significant number of students who speak Spanish as their native language. Menlove said 30 out of the 185 West Side students are classified as English language learners.
“We receive additional funding for migrant students and we have individual learning plans and tutoring,” she said, that allows English learners to catch up.
What was her biggest surprise about coming to work at West Side? Menlove gets misty-eyed as she answers: “It’s how supportive this community is, because there are communities out there where kids don’t have support. Our staff and parents would do anything for these kids. I’m so humbled by it.”
