As a new school year begins, we're introducing the leaders who help shape each campus across the district.
In this series, meet the principals behind local schools, learn about their experience, leadership style and goals for the year ahead, and discover how they're working to support students, staff and families in their communities.
This week, we feature Principal Heidi Banuelos from Shadow Mountain High School in the PVSchools district.
Tell us about your path into education. What led you to become a principal? I truly never imagined I would end up in school administration. I started my teaching career 17 years ago teaching all subjects in a K-8 in South Korea! I absolutely loved teaching in a full English immersion program and so much of what I learned in college and grad school at Arizona State University directly applied when I taught overseas.
After teaching English and EL classes for three years, I pursued a lifelong dream of starting my own dance program and teaching in the arts. I am a product of public education fine arts, and I know firsthand the power the arts have to transform lives. I was a high school dance director for seven years and loved every minute of it. I kept finding myself in leadership roles on my campus and I realized that I wanted to be able to support and impact more students, and thus my path led me to pursue another master's degree and become an administrator.
I was a high school assistant principal for three years, a middle school principal for two years, and I'm starting my second year as the proud Matador principal at Shadow Mountain High School. Leading a school that is an arts magnet school is truly a dream come true, but it's not just our arts programs - it's ALL of our programs and our incredible staff, students, and community. This is a truly special place to serve.
What has been the most rewarding part of leading this campus? The community is unreal. Shadow Mountain has all of the opportunity and personality of a large comprehensive high school while maintaining a unique charm that is rooted in one word: connection.
We believe in our students and the power of human connection, and our students have so many opportunities to get involved and become part of this incredible community.
What values guide the decisions you make every day? Passion creates purpose. Every decision we make, big and small, requires thoughtfulness, collaboration, connection, intentionality, and integrity. We make decisions that put students first and that remove barriers - big and small.
What does a successful school culture look like to you? A few things come to mind. 100% student involvement — that means athletics, clubs, programs, fine arts, CTE and everything else we offer. We want every Matador connected to our campus and our community.
The second thing is staff retention, and putting an emphasis on staff morale is incredibly important. When you build a school culture that is positive, innovative, and supportive, it shows at every level. From my office through our incredible maintenance staff, we are "all in" for our students every day. We are one team working to continue to build the Shadow Mountain High School of today and tomorrow. Our theme for the year is "All Matadors, All In: All the Way Up!"
Last year, we recommitted to our why and solidified our identity as a team that shows up for every student, every day. Together, this team made history — including breaking a 20 on our ACT composite score for the first time in SMHS history!
This year is about elevation and evolution. We are continuing to push past our comfort zones, shatter old paradigms, and dare to reach for a higher standard of excellence. We are already an A-rated and US News & World Report Best High School, but we are just getting started!
If you had 60 seconds to introduce your school to a family considering enrollment, what would you tell them? I am a proud public education parent as well as the SMHS principal. In two years from now, my daughter will enter high school, and Shadow Mountain would be my choice regardless if I worked here. This is a place where people know your name, where they care about your story and are willing to help you forge a future with purpose. One community is behind every Matador from day one. The community here is everything.
What programs or opportunities are you most proud of?
DAAPS: Developing Authentic Academic through Purposeful Scholarship:
Space Force JROTC: We are the only high school on this side of the country with our own military grade flight simulator!
What do today's students need most from their schools? Connection. The academics, the athletics, the clubs, programs, and every fun event only matters and work when we put the power of human connection at the center of all we do.
We are committed to our students being connected at SMHS, and every adult on this campus is ready to support them finding things that make their souls ignite.
How do you measure success beyond test scores? Students feeling connected and supported. Staff retention. Parents and community members feeling welcomed and satisfied with what we're offering to their kids each day.
What qualities do you look for when hiring educators? We obviously want to ensure high caliber when it comes to instruction and equally important is looking for educators that will be relationship builders first.
How can parents be effective partners in their children's education?Be present. Be engaged. Be involved! That's it!
If you could accomplish one thing by the end of the year, what would it be? Our goal is to have 100% student involvement, and because of the belief we have in connection — that would have to be the one! That's hard to just pick one though!
What moment in your career reminded you why you chose education? I'm reminded almost daily in large and small ways about why I chose this profession, but I always come back to writing a specific phrase in my journal 17 years ago when I secured my first teaching position. I didn’t even quite know what it meant yet, but those words have stuck with me during every step of my journey in education, and they are truer now than ever: passion creates purpose.
When I talk about passion I don't mean there will not be any challenges; not every day will be "rainbows." In fact, when you are passionate about what you do and how you do it, it will undoubtedly create more struggle and present more obstacles because you will feel a moral imperative to succeed and, most importantly, to serve. That is where the purpose comes in — in the service of others we will find purpose as human beings. It is the crucial juncture of where passion and purpose intersect that joy and fulfillment live and grow.
The final words I shared with our seniors at graduation last year revolved around this, and my last line to them was, "Matadors, I challenge you to take the skills and the lessons from your time here and allow them to propel you forward into a future that ignites your spirit, that challenges you to grow, and that, most importantly, allows you to serve the world in a manner that brings you joy and love. Life is too short to do it any other way."
Passion creates purpose is what drives me daily and it constantly reminds me about why I do what I do and that it matters.
At the end of the day, what do you hope students remember most about attending your school? I hope they remember the way we made them feel: loved, supported, connected, and committed to helping them forge a future with purpose.
Editor’s note: A grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation made this story possible. The foundation awarded 15 newsrooms to pay for solutions-focused education reporters for two years. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.
Meet Stacy Stacy Mantle is joining the team at Independent Newsmedia, Inc. as an Education Solutions journalist, thanks to a grant from the Arizona Community Collaborative. She has a long history in education that ranges from teaching junior high and middle school to developing curriculum and standards-based assessments.
Community: A longtime advocate for animal welfare, Stacy is deeply involved in rescue efforts and volunteers with several nonprofit organizations.
Random Fact: Once upon a time, she shared her home with a pet coyote and two wolf hybrids. The experiences were wild enough to become the subject of her first book!
Education: She holds a BA in English with a minor in Political Science, a Post-baccalaureate in Secondary Education, and an MBA with a emphasis on Marketing.
Hobbies: In her spare time, Stacy writes fast-paced urban fantasy novels, crafts small-batch artisan soap, and is always up for hiking or off-roading through the Arizona wilderness with her husband of 23 years.
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