Meet The Breakfast Club, Half Moon Bay’s Educational Leaders

For the first time ever Coastside principals from both local private and public schools met around a table in Half Moon Bay last Friday to discuss how they can better collaborate together on issues that pertain to the children they serve.

Called The Breakfast Club, the meeting of this group of educational leaders was initiated by Dr. Tekakwitha Pernambuco-Wise, the new head of school at Sea Crest, who thought it would be beneficial to the community to come together and share ideas about how to help Coastside youth.

“We’re all educators and can learn from the experiences of each other at our schools, whether private, independent or public,” said Pernambuco-Wise, who believes that there is a school for each child whether it’s the public school system like Cabrillo Unified or a private school setting like Sea Crest.

On Friday, Pernambuco-Wise, Joy Dardenelle, principal for Farralone View Elementary, Natalie Zisko, principal for El Granada Elementary, Jim Ward, principal for Hatch Elementary, Tim Miller, principal for Wilkinson School, and Caro Pemberton, principal for Oceana High School in Pacifica met over coffee at Moonside Bakery on Main Street in Half Moon Bay.

Key points of their discussion on Friday included recognizing the importance for educational leaders in the community to show leadership in getting together and that being a part of a supportive group of professionals and comrades will help them tackle school leadership issues.

Half Moon Bay High School principal Allison Silvestri had a scheduling conflict and could not attend the meeting, however, she plans to be at the next one, said Pernambuco-Wise.

The group’s next meeting is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 9. They agreed to read Frank Siccone's Essential Skills for Effective School Leadership.

“Part of our discussion will be of the concepts in the book,” said Pernambuco-Wise, in addition to having a dialogue about mindfulness and how they can be instrumental in helping their sometimes over-scheduled children to have time to slow down and be reflective, she said.

“Other topics will be generative as our time together unfolds,” said Pernambuco-Wise.

It’s this type of educational collaboration that’s at the crux of what Pernambuco-Wise is all about in her approach overseeing Sea Crest School. Having studied and worked in multiple countries with a range of students from kindergarten to high school, Pernambuco-Wise brings a worldly perspective to the table and seeks to strengthen Sea Crest’s ties to the community even more in the future.

For example Sea Crest is in the process of constructing its innovation lab, which eventually Pernambuco-Wise hopes to open to the public with the message that communication and collaboration help a student’s competency, creativity and character.

When it comes to The Breakfast Club, Pernambuco-Wise is optimistic that over time the Coast’s educational leaders can “learn from the experiences of each other,” she said, “and be excellent resources for problem-solving as we prepare children for a future with unknown challenges.”