Tualatin High School (TuHS) principal Michael Dellerba works tirelessly to serve the students of TuHS. While most of his job tends to be behind the scenes, he is constantly making sure our school runs smoothly. In an interview with The Wolf, Dellerba outlined a typical day in his life.
What does your typical morning routine look like?
“Usually [I wake up] between 4:30 and 5:30. I do all the cooking in my house, so I’ll make the kids breakfast and make the kids’ lunches. Then it’s scrolling through my morning emails and the emails from last night. I usually check my emails at night before I go to bed around 10. There are times where I get calls in the middle of the night; there have been times where I’ve had to get up before then and get down to [the school] and meet someone. Usually, it’s just a morning check if any issues happen overnight and if stuff happens in the morning. I also do some last minute check-ins and sometimes organize my team through text if something has happened overnight and we need to get a group together in the morning and talk to a specific teacher or student. Then I usually get here between 7:45 and 8 after dropping my kids off at school. My wife’s an elementary teacher who has to get out the door before I do, so if we don’t get up early, stuff doesn’t get done.”
What does your typical afternoon look like?
“There are a lot [of meetings]. Right now, because we are in the middle of the budget development process, there are a lot of budget meetings I am pulled into, in terms of staffing and discretionary funds, and then there are questions I am asking and getting answers back. As the year goes on, the flow of what I am working on [during the day] changes.”
What is your favorite part of the day?
“Just seeing the smiles, and the normal hallway banter and check-in with kids and staff is probably the most fun of my day. Dropping into classes and seeing good stuff happening is also, by far, the best part of my day. Going to performances and seeing our students shine in their various environments are the best times.”
Whether he’s running around solving problems or sitting in meetings all day, Dellerba is the best principal TuHS could ever ask for.
