San Czaplinski is the Academy Director at LASA, and one of the four Assistant Principals. Czaplinski grew up in north Texas in a small town named Brownwood, where she met her husband, her high school sweetheart, and recently celebrated 31 years of marriage. She joined the LASA administration in 2012 and has loved being a part of the team ever since.
LASA Liberator: Tell us about yourself.
Czaplinski: I grew up in poverty, although I really didn’t know it because my mom did a fantastic job of keeping us from knowing that we were poor.
Well, I shouldn’t say always because there was a very short period of time that we were homeless, but I thought we were camping. My mom made it a camping trip for us, so I didn’t know until I was an adult. I used to tell people all the time it was my favorite summer, it was the summer between my third and fourth grade year, and we were out at the lake every day and we were hiking and swimming and doing all of the fun stuff, collecting bugs and sleeping on top of the roof of the car at night under the stars, and it was actually an adventure, it was a blast.
LL: What did you do after high school?
Czaplinski: My four older siblings all quit high school to go to work full-time, so I was the first of the nine to graduate high school. I didn’t even plan to go to college because I knew that my parents could not afford to send me. So I worked five jobs the year after I graduated high school, because I was only 17 when I graduated, and no one was willing to hire me full-time.
I was working at Golden Corral one evening, and a friend of mine said, “You know, San, you are one of the smartest people that I know. If I can go to college, you can go to college.” That kind of stuck with me, just in the back of my head, and so the next year I decided I was going to try and apply.
LL: Walk me through a day in LASA.
Czaplinski: I have a to-do list, and sometimes it’s a mental to-do list on top of the one I keep in writing, and most often, I would say that I am 20% successful in getting to that to-do list.
Usually, things come up as soon as I walk in. There’s a kid in crisis, a teacher running late, someone missing in the front office, and they need help, a flat tire, and they need someone to cover the entrance doors; there is a lot going on.
LL: What are the big parts of your job?
Czaplinski: I would say that the big pieces of my job are the master schedule and everything that it entails, beginning to end, applications, so I am the person in charge of helping with the application process. I sit down again with Ms. Cresenzi, and I go through everyone and decide who is accepted and who is not.
LL: Do you work with the other admins?
Czaplinski: Oh, I do, yes. In the time that I have been here, it has been the strongest admin team. I feel like we are very aligned and we hold each other accountable, so even when we do not agree necessarily, we still compromise, and we also help each other out in ways that sometimes we didn’t even realize we needed. They have been a super great support system for me this year, because I lost a brother in September, and the start of this school year was really tough for me. They definitely rallied and have helped me. It feels good to feel like you have a family at work, as well.
LL: What is one thing you’d like students to know?
Czaplinski: As you change jobs in education, sometimes you have more distance between you and the students. I do wish that there was a way that could be different. I know I cannot build a relationship with 396 freshmen, but I want students to know that at least here at LASA, we all have your best interests in mind.
When we are making decisions, it is not because we are trying to be harsh or mean. It is really to help you learn from your mistakes if you are in here for a disciplinary issue, or to help you learn how to advocate for yourself. It is those things that we really want for you. I would want students to know that no matter what, we are on your side.
