After more than three decades in education — and nearly as long shaping student life at MVHS — Assistant Principal Mike White will be retiring at the end of the 2025-2026 school year. Since first stepping onto campus as a student teacher in 1989 and continuing that work at James Logan High School and Lynbrook High School before returning in 2012, White says that he has always centered his work on ensuring students feel a genuine sense of belonging to a place they can call home on campus. Drawn to the role of activities leadership, he was especially interested in the chance to coordinate campus traditions and the chance to work directly with students.
“I met Mike Malcolm, the activities director and assistant principal at JLHS,” White said. “I said, ‘Dude, I want your job someday.’ Then he left, and I became an activities assistant principal from there on.”
Principal Ben Clausnitzer, who joined MVHS the same year as White, says that White’s responsibility since he arrived has always been to work with student activities. According to him, over time, White has become a resource not just for MVHS but for the district.
“People have questions for the district — ‘Hey, what do we do for field trips in this particular case? What needs to happen?’ — and it can be unique sometimes,” Clausnitzer said. “So, who do you call? You call Mr. White.”
For students like senior and ASB president Elaine Chen, who has worked with White extensively in both leadership and Link Crew initiatives, White’s impact is indelible.
“Since he is assistant principal, he’s really busy,” Elaine said. “But when he does come into the leadership room, you can feel a whole wave of energy all of a sudden. He’s always fun and tries not to take things too seriously.”
According to Elaine, that presence has followed him off campus to statewide leadership conferences at the California Association of Directors of Activities and the California Association of Student Leaders. In Clausnitzer’s eyes, however, there is a whole other side of White.
“Mike is typically not shy by nature, but he’s not necessarily an extrovert either,” Clausnitzer said. “When he speaks, he’s being reflective and thinking about 30-plus years in education, coupled with knowing that as time goes on, schools, people and society evolve and change.”
Elaine describes White as someone who guides ideas rather than shutting them down. She says he offers advice based on experience, helping students shape their vision while encouraging creativity.
“Instead of saying no to something, he’ll be like, ‘Oh, this is how you can do it,’ or ‘Maybe we’ll have restrictions on this, but we can do it this other way,’” Elaine said. “With this year’s Winter Formal, we had to cancel it because of a variety of issues, but throughout the whole process, he communicated a lot with ASB execs and was really supportive of us. It didn’t feel like he was an assistant principal. It felt like a team thing.”
Even after years of leading events and guiding students, White says it’s the unnoticed moments that make all the effort worthwhile. Hearing an old student recall advice from their freshman year or seeing the energy of a successful orientation reminds him why he continues to do his work.
When working with sophomore class officer Sophie Chen, White considered the vision behind each event, thinking carefully about how students wanted to see it unfold. To her, White’s commitment reflects a saying in leadership they often say when reminding themselves to stay grounded: “Lead with a purpose.”
“If he thinks that something may not go as planned, he’ll tell you,” Sophie said. “Vice versa, if something is really good, he’ll be like, ‘Hey, this is a great idea.’ When you have Mr. White’s reassurance, you know for sure your event can happen, because he’ll work hard to support you in any way possible. He makes it happen.”
While Elaine and Sophie focus on White’s encouragement and the way he helps turn ideas into reality, their praise centers on what he does in the moment. White, however, measures his legacy by something less tangible.
“I always like to think that the kids thought I would help them try whatever they wanted to try and that we would do our best to make it work,” White said. “Even if it meant simple acts like being fair in decision making or helping them guide us to make things happen.”
Clausnitzer emphasizes that White’s influence at MVHS extends far beyond organizing successful events; he says White’s work was always about shaping the school’s culture and prioritizing relationships between community members rather than a structured and traditional way of executing activities.
“In terms of Mike’s influence on my work, I suppose it’s always been a little bit about, ‘How do we make Monta Vista a little less business-like and more relationship-focused?,’ ‘How do we make students feel a sense of belonging and feel at home on campus in some kind of way?’” Clausnitzer said. “He has always been focused on the student experience over the course of their four years, and has always wanted students to have a sense of belonging at their school.”
White’s attention to students’ experience wasn’t limited to structured leadership meetings. Sophie recalled one such instance during leadership training camp, when White shared lengthy stories from his own high school experience to foster a sense of belonging among students.
“It was a small moment, but it was special to all of us because it was personal to him and was a moment where we could bond with him,” Sophie said. “I think what students and staff will miss the most is just how easy he gets along with everyone. Even if you’re meeting Mr. White for the first time, he’s easygoing and easy to talk to.”
As he prepares to leave, White says the hardest part isn’t the paperwork or the logistics of transitioning his responsibilities, but leaving the relationships he’s built over the decades. Even as he reflects on the challenges of leaving, he hopes the traditions he helped nurture in homecoming, class colors and Link Crew will endure. While White may notice his own decline in energy, the constant presence of students reminds him that each day brings new energy and perspective, a feeling that keeps him engaged.
“My adult friends always laugh at me and say, ‘Do you have a real job?’” White said. “But every day I get to see students grow and succeed. So I really think I do.”
