After joining MVHS as a full-time teacher, Art Department Lead Brian Chow always envisioned that he would take on a leadership role and redirect the department’s curriculum. As the current department lead for over 24 years, Chow is proud of the continued interest from students to enroll in the variety of art courses offered at MVHS, even amidst declining enrollment.

“I think the versatility and options for students to take different courses is an accomplishment,” Chow said. “You could have an art program where they just have level one and two of a drawing class. Students here have a lot of versatility across different areas and mediums, and I feel good about being able to offer that.”

On a day-to-day basis, Chow works alongside fellow art teacher Jay Shelton in coordinating curriculum and instruction, as well as with other Art department leads across FUHSD. Monthly, Chow meets with other leads to discuss curriculum feedback, staffing needs and plan for the annual FUHSD Art Show, which features work from MVHS students. 

While many MVHS students involved in the Art program may not pursue art careers, Chow recognizes the deep impact that working with and understanding art has on students. To better address diverse student needs and interact on an interpersonal level with students, Chow made efforts to modernize the curriculum and incorporate learning not specifically related to art.

“Having a curriculum that really meets the needs of the 21st century and what an art education looks like now is breaking out of the ‘60s model,” Chow said. “I see my students and former students being successful in finding their passion or personal pursuit, whether or not somebody decides to monetize their skill set, and gain multiple levels of success. We’re part of their journey to get where they wanted to go, achieve their dreams and create a career path.”

After teaching in the Special Education department and working alongside students for 12 years, Department Lead Ruth Seyer wanted to work alongside students from all different walks of life — not only students in a specific level or class. Working alongside students with disabilities brings Seyer pride because she treasures the moments where she provides students with encouraging instruction that allows them to thrive.

“It can be challenging at times, but it’s very rewarding when we’ve been able to make connections for them or help them,” Seyer said. “Opening doors for our students and helping them feel like they are a part of something can be very exciting.”

As department lead, Seyer is currently focused on creating the master schedule for students and educators in the program. Seyer chooses the level of education she believes is best suited for a student, and ensures that specialized educators are hired and scheduled to support them.

Seyer meets with school administration and a student’s case managers, who provide guidance to support a student and their family in the Special Education program, yearly to ensure that teachers are informed of students’ needs. Seyer also works alongside standardized testing administrators to provide students in the program with testing accommodations.

“We need to develop or create services,” Seyer said. “How do we provide them in order to best support the needs of students that are ever-changing? How are they going to support students? The relationships they have with folks and their teams? All that is part of what we’re overseeing.”

With the growth of the Special Education department and integration of students into classrooms alongside peers, Seyer hopes that more electives will be created that integrate students in Special Education, teaching them important skills for success. 

“I think it would be helpful for all students to have access to things like a class on how to do your taxes or how to do finances and investing,” Seyer said. “We need to work towards developing and creating more electives that are available to all students that aren’t as STEM related.”

Despite being in her first year as the English Department Lead, Lynn Rose has set big goals to bring the department to new heights. Before joining the English department, Rose served as the Advancement Via Individual Determination coordinator. Rose enjoyed working alongside students and their tutors in AVID but desired a change in environment, switching to the English department.

Rose’s responsibilities as Department Lead involve actively engaging teachers in bonding activities. In terms of curriculum, Rose hopes to install “vertical alignment” to streamline transitions among English classes of all grade levels, allowing students to develop the same skills even if they take English courses of varying difficulty levels. She believes that these initiatives will help bring together the large English department, which she posits is often disconnected.

“The challenge with teachers is that we’re in our classrooms, and it can feel like our own island,” Rose said. “Every department meeting, I start with some sort of connector bonding activity, something fun, helping us get to know each other on a more personal level.”

Monthly, Rose meets with PLCs — Professional Learning Community English teachers from either MVHS or FUHSD — to discuss curriculum needs and general updates. At MVHS, Rose spearheads the creation of scheduling for all English department teachers and facilitates communication between all members to increase transparency, even if teachers may not get their first-choice schedules. 

“My biggest challenge is creating the schedule, and I’m right in the middle of it,” Rose said. “It can be challenging because I’m trying to make sure that I’m making everyone happy, and that they’re teaching courses that they prefer, and that they’re getting off the periods they need, as a lot of teachers want a free sixth or seventh period.”

Although coming into a Department Lead position was originally unfamiliar for Rose, she attributes her success in the position to the numerous colleagues and peers who offered her advice, especially former English Department Lead Monica Jariwala.

“Monica Jariwala and I are friends too, and she’s been a good resource,” Rose said. “I met with Julia Satterthwaite as well and talked to her about some things I’ve been thinking about since she’s been in the role too. Leaning on people who have been there and understand what it’s like has really helped.”

During the switch to Schoology from School Loop during COVID-19 distance learning, Science Department Lead Sushma Bana took on an unprecedented role — Schoology lead. When teachers required assistance understanding grading systems, assignment creation and other Schoology functions, Bana worked alongside them to resolve their issues and helped spearhead Professional Development sessions and Schoology learning initiatives for teachers all across FUHSD.

“We address the needs of whoever has a Schoology need,” Bana said. “If there’s something they want to learn long-term, we set up a time and work with the team at the district office to create lessons to explore Schoology and how we can use it.”

Acting as the Schoology lead is sometimes challenging for Bana, who believes that the large time commitment and occasionally headstrong staff members increase the stress of the role. As Bana says that Schoology issues arise particularly during class time, she is unable to leave her science classes to immediately address issues. Despite this, Bana is proud of the progress made on the platform and of the help she has provided the MVHS community.

“I think the time I work with teachers on Schoology is critical, and I really try to prioritize it,” Bana said. “We make sure that people understand that Schoology can do a lot more, and we try to make it simple and make the information accessible and easy to understand.”

On top of her role as the Schoology Lead, Bana also serves as the Science Department Lead, a role she came into after wanting to become more involved as a former math and current physics teacher. She attributes her passion for becoming a department lead to the knowledge of school culture and students’ needs that she gained as a teacher, and the success of the Science Department as a whole to its staff.

As the Science department lead, Bana actively liaises between the Biology, Physics and Chemistry departments — a demanding task that she believes is made easier with the flexibility of MVHS staff.

“I felt I was prepared in that I had enough knowledge about how Monta Vista and my department function,” Bana said. “It’s great that the MVHS science teachers are very open to new ideas and new ways of doing work and that they constantly look for ways to improve student learning.”

After teaching concurrently at Lynbrook High School and MVHS for two years, first-year World Languages Department Lead Zoey Liu committed to teaching at MVHS full-time in order to take on a leadership role. Even though Liu was originally unsure of her abilities to guide the department compared to her longer-tenured colleagues, she chose to apply after hearing praise of her abilities from fellow teachers.

“It was really encouraging to hear other people telling me about what I could bring to the table,” Liu said. “I know my strengths, my teaching strategies, new trends in World Language education, and I have years of experience in professional development. I’m excited to share our department with other teachers.”

One change that Liu hopes to facilitate is more interdepartmental communication. In past years as a regular staff member, Liu felt distanced from her fellow colleagues. Now, she hosts weekly brunches as a chance for World Language teachers to share updates and teaching strategies, as well as create genuine connections.

“I was very focused on staying in my own classroom doing lesson prepping, grading and working with my own students,” Liu said. “Now we take turns to host brunch every Wednesday, and everyone gets to see each other and chat. What’s happening in the French classroom, and what are some concerns that other people have? It’s outside my comfort zone, but it’s helped. It’s heartwarming to know that everybody does want to work together.”

Aside from her department lead responsibilities, Liu also attempts to implement equitable teaching strategies in order to fulfill students’ emotional needs, which she hopes that other teachers in her department will also begin to introduce. She says that serving as both the department lead and as a past professional development lead for other teachers has given her insight into the most effective guidance and leadership strategies.

Continuing into her second year as Department Lead in the 2025-2026 school year, Liu hopes to be an inspiring leader and role model, even though she is not able to work together with her fellow members constantly.

“I just feel like we don’t have that time,” Liu said.“For this year or maybe 40 years that I’m going to be in the Department Lead position, my goal is to share, inspire and grow.”