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Queen Creek High School Principal Paul Gagnon
Over the course of a month, Paul Gagnon filled out the application, went through the interview process, was offered and subsequently accepted his new position, and then attended the Queen Creek Unified School District board meeting where his hiring as the new Queen Creek High School principal was approved.
Gagnon, who has been the Page High School principal for the past five year, will begin his duties starting with the 2016-17 school year.
“It has been a whirlwind process,” Gagnon told the Ledger. “But it is something my wife and I really talked about and thought about a lot to make sure this was the right move. Queen Creek attracted me for a lot of personal reasons but professionally as well.”
Family was among the chief personal reasons. Gagnon’s parents live in Tucson, where he was born, raised, attended Palo Verde High School, and the University of Arizona. His in-laws live in Tempe.
The opportunity for their four children to attend great schools in the area was also attractive to Gagnon and his wife, Cori.
Professionally, he saw similarities between Page High School and Queen Creek, including a similar curriculum and participation in professional learning communities.
“Queen Creek is just doing it at a higher level,” Gagnon acknowledged. “There is clearly a staff here that is amazing and doing great things with students. There is a great opportunity to expand that with some of the ideas I have.”
One of his ideas includes the implementation of AVID, an acronym for Advancement Via Individual Determination.
AVID is a college-going program that takes students who are in the middle academically and may not have the foundational skills to be in advanced placement and honors classes. AVID puts them in those classes and teaches them what it takes to get into college.
Continuing to enhance an already established college-going culture is one of Gagnon’s goals in his new job.
“I’m looking forward to being at bigger school where we have students who have a lot of that aspiration built in,” he said.
Prior to his stint as principal at Page, Gagnon served as an English and History teacher at the school. In between his time as teacher and principal, he earned a Master of Teacher Education degree from Eastern Oregon University and a Master of Education Administration degree from Grand Canyon University.
He served as an assistant principal and athletic director at Cottonwood Middle School for two years immediately after earning his degrees and before being recruited back to Page High School as the principal.
He was varsity assistant baseball coach and the boys’ varsity soccer coach while at Page as a teacher. Under his leadership as soccer coach, the school made its first and only state tournament appearance.
Gagnon has been briefed about the Bulldogs’ athletic department excellence and knows it goes hand-in-hand with the school’s academic reputation.
“Having a successful athletic program improves the (culture) of the school,” Gagnon said. “It makes it so students want to attend Queen Creek.”
“My goal as principal is to put our students in the best position to succeed, especially academically,” he added. “Because I know athletics, for example, are super important, but if they don’t perform (academically) that scholarship can be taken away.”
Gagnon believes academics, the arts, athletics, and more, including CTE, which he says is near and dear to his heart, are all important to Queen Creek’s continued success.
“I love CTE because it gives students those life-long skills that they can take with them,” he said. “How many programs can a student walk away with a CNA certificate? Or an ASE certification for auto mechanics? Students can put that on a résumé and get a job right away. There are so many opportunities.”
After working for 12 years at only two different schools, Gagnon is looking forward to making the move to a community he knows his family will love.
What is he most looking forward to in his new job?
“Working with the staff at Queen Creek,” he responded. “It sounds like it’s a great staff and I’m getting the chance to meet all of them on April 8.”
“There is so much support around here,” he continued. “What struck me during the interview is the people here are so positive and I’m a positive person. I’m anxious to work with staff and help them take their game to the next level in the name of helping our students achieve whatever their goals are.”
Andrew Luberda began writing for Copper Area News Publishers (CANP) in February 2013 after working 15 years in Healthcare Financial Management. Andy covers sports for 11 high schools. His stories are published in Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner and Superior Sun, in addition to the San Tan Valley Daily PRSS and CopperArea websites. Additionally, he has written human interest stories and business profiles. In May 2012, he earned an AAS in Sports Management at Central Arizona College before graduating with a BS in Communication from Arizona State University in 2014. He and his wife, Kelli, have three sons – AJ, Kyle, and Kade.
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