Dr. Thomas Velazquez officially began his first year as principal here at LHS last week. Dr. Velazquez has worked at a diverse array of schools, middle schools and high schools of all sorts of demographics, eventually landing here at LHS. He explains that he was initially drawn to LHS due to the welcoming and educational atmosphere.
“I was really impressed with how friendly everyone was, how much people liked their jobs, and how kids were paying attention in class. It just seemed like a really nice school and that impressed me. I went online and I started reading about the values of the school and the values of the school district and they really aligned with my values.”
One of Dr. Velazquez’s main goals at LHS is to raise the graduation rate to 100% or as close to 100% as possible, but beyond that, he wants to provide all students with choices for their future.
“We do want to graduate 100% or as close to 100% of students as possible and put systems in place that will help kids stay on track to graduate and get their credits back if they fail a course. Not only that, but we have to graduate every student with equitable opportunities and choices.”
But what does it mean to give students equitable opportunities and choices? Dr. Velazquez explains.
“I need to give you the opportunity to take diverse classes and to meet all the requirements. When you finish high school, you should have a choice to do whatever you want to do. I prepared you for college, but you don’t have to choose college, you could choose military, you could choose a career, you could choose industry, whatever you want, but I need to prepare every student at that level and give them that choice and the agency in their life to make that choice.”
Something that makes Dr. Velazquez stand out from previous principals is that he is a fluent Spanish speaker. He learned the bulk of the language when he lived in Mexico with his family after graduating high school.
Dr. Velazquez touches on some of his hobbies outside of his career.
“I love Chicago-style food, like Chicago pizza and Chicago hot dogs. I’m also a Chicago Bulls fan. I like the Chicago Bears even though I know they’re terrible. I like to garden, and I play video games every once in a while. I used to be able to beat most kids at Madden Football but probably not anymore.”
Undoubtedly, many kids at LHS are concerned about the new school rules and regulations that have been orchestrated by Dr. Velazquez. Though they initiated a significant shift in school culture in comparison to last year, Dr. Velazquez explains that they’re nothing to be afraid of.
“With the exit rules, I want our school to be safe. I don’t want anyone to ever hurt one of our students so I want the exits secured. For the passes, I just want to make sure people are in their classes because that’s how people pass their classes. I’m not trying to be strict just to be strict. I have high expectations because I care about the outcomes for every single student.”
“Sometimes change can be hard for people, but I believe that within a short amount of time most kids will be used to our new rules and they’ll be totally fine with it.”
We’re excited to welcome Dr. Velazquez into the lion family and to see what he does for the school. Dr. Velazquez offers some final words for the student body.
“I want to have a school where every kid feels like they belong, where kids connect to something, a sport, a club, a teacher, a hallway monitor, whoever it is, I want everyone to feel like they’re a part of something when they’re at littleton high school and something special.”
