For Mary Streshly, the new superintendent of the Sequoia Union High School District as of July 1, being at the top of school district management runs in the family.
Her father led school districts in San Marcos and San Ramon and has been a source of advice to her on educational leadership. “He’s one of my biggest role models,” she said. Asked for a sample of his advice, she recalled his suggestion that she ask three questions of everyone as she introduces herself to the community: “What would you do if you were me? How can I support you?” and “What should I change?”
She has been asking such questions. A common concern in the Sequoia district has been gentrification, especially from residents of East Palo Alto, she said. In Campbell, where she was assistant superintendent of the high school district, high rents have been driving working class families away, she said, and noted that enrollment has been dropping in Redwood City schools.
When addressing issues of concern, Ms. Streshly is an advocate of “unpacking” them to get a better understanding, a methodology key to her leadership style, she said. She borrows from her comparative literature studies, where she looked for themes and connections. Connections can reveal underlying needs, which may then reveal possible compromises and mitigation to address the needs, she said.
On gentrification, the path forward isn’t clear, “especially at the policy and fiscal levels,” she said. While the board is listening to the community, “I’m not sure gentrification is something we mitigate as educators,” she said.
Being paid to read
Ms. Streshly, who is 49 and lives in Burlingame, has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of California at Berkeley. She also has a teaching credential and a master’s degree in English literature and English as a second language from San Diego State University, a credential in administration from California State University San Marcos, and a doctorate in educational leadership from San Francisco State University.
While at UC Berkeley, she interned in public relations and considered taking up photojournalism. But after graduating and making $17,000 a year, she headed home. “I was not making it,” she said. Her father offered her a choice: pay rent or go to graduate school. She chose the latter.
An upside: Her father also taught rhetoric. “No matter how busy he was, he would always take time to edit my papers,” she said.
Over her career, she taught English language development in middle and high school in San Marcos and chaired that department for five years. She coordinated English language learning at Sequoia High in Redwood City for a year before moving on to Lowell High in San Francisco for three years as assistant principal, then to Half Moon Bay High for about four years as principal.
As a teacher, she gravitated toward leadership by taking on extra roles — department chair, language arts mentor, coordinator for the AVID college-prep tutoring program. “My dad nudged me a lot,” she added. Her interests grew to include working with and across schools and districts.
While she said she sees education leadership and teaching as being fulfilling occupations — teaching English as a second language is “one of the most fulfilling places to be in education,” she said — leadership offers opportunities to impacts more students.
Asked why she chose English as a college major, considering the storied deficits of that major when searching for gainful employment and given that she hadn’t settled on a career, Ms. Streshly had a ready reply: “My favorite teacher in high school was an English teacher,” she said. “I really loved that class.”
There was a time when she was paid to read. As a child without an allowance, she could earn money over the summers by reading books. “Most of the time, I would finish them,” she said. “There wasn’t a lot to do.” It was a two-mile walk to a Seven-11 in San Marcos, she said.
She recalled being paid to read “Watership Down” by Richard Adams, in which a group of English rabbits have adventures, and “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand, in which reticence by industrialists in the face of aggressive new regulations leads to society’s collapse. “I’m not sure it marks my politics,” she said of Ms. Rand’s book.
“The best thing about literature is to be able to discuss it and connect it to what you’re doing,” she said.
While at UC Berkeley, her ethnic studies classes led to reading works by such luminaries as Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison and Zora Neale Hurston. “It drove me, I think, to really always be working with under-served populations,” she said. It also served her belief in the “transformative power” of public education to break the cycle of poverty. “I firmly believe public education is the cornerstone of our democracy,” she said.
Bond measure
Sequoia district voters in 2014 approved a bond measure authorizing the district to borrow up to $265 million for facilities to meet an enrollment surge expected over the next five to six years. Included was $64 million for two magnet schools of about 400 students each: one in Menlo Park and the other planned for San Carlos.
Underlying realities have changed. The enrollment surge has moderated, due in part to gentrification and the cost of living. The district paid more than anticipated for the properties intended for the two new schools, and faced community opposition to a school in San Carlos.
In late 2015, district Chief Facilities Officer Matthew Zito told the board that the cost to build the Menlo Park school — now known as TIDE Academy — jumped 33 percent. Then an overheated construction market led to a year’s delay in the academy’s opening, now set for August 2019.
Asked to comment, Ms. Streshly made note of the enrollment and cost variables and said she’s in information-gathering mode. “You try to (earn) the voters’ trust and maintain it … and I think the district has done that,” she said. “From what I can see, it’s going very well,” with no signs of over-building, she said.
Menlo-Atherton High has a new 21-classroom building and a science, technology, engineering and math classroom building in progress. “M-A is growing and I believe that’s space that will be used.”
As for the San Carlos property, “It’s an asset in more ways than one,” she said. “The input was not 100 percent positive on building a school there.” It could be used for housing or program expansion, she said. The community college district, which houses some teachers on campus, may be a model, she said.
Most Popular
Menlo Park overhauls license plate reader sharing after discovering more improper searchesAugust 27, 2026 4:09 pm
