Her Story
About LaKia
I started my career as a 7th grade reading teacher and did that role for about 6 years at one campus, then moved to other districts. If you wanted to sum it up, I was a 7th grade ELA teacher for 10 years before I started my leadership journey. After those 10 years, I served in multiple leadership roles - I've been a department chair, skills specialist, reading specialist, and literacy coach. I did that for 5 years in different districts and schools. Then I accepted my first administrative position on an elementary campus in 2019. I was an assistant principal for a year and a half at an elementary campus, then I was promoted to assistant principal at a high school in Houston Independent School District. My last year at the high school was as Dean of Instruction, which is basically the second in command on a campus. I did that role for a year, from 2022 to 2023, and then I was named the principal of Fondren Middle School in July of 2023. My passion is in ELA, but I believe my real passion is in growing teachers and leaders - teachers that want to be leaders, and leaders perfecting their craft. My ability is to relationship build and then push people to see their potential so they can reach to the next level. I'm very passionate about underserved children. I've only worked in Title I school districts for underserved populations of students, and my passion is ensuring they receive the best education they could get because they're already dealt a bad hand because of their socioeconomic status. School is the one equalizer. I consistently tell the people I lead that whatever kid they come in contact with, they don't know their story, and kids don't have the opportunity to choose their parents or where they're from or how much money their parents make, but what they do have control over is making sure they give them the best education when they come into their classroom.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with LaKia
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say, number one, my faith. I am a Christian, and so I consistently pray to keep a level head. Then I have an amazing leadership team, amazing staff, and I keep myself surrounded by accountability people - people that will hold me accountable. I'm big on reflection, I'm big on growth, and so my success as a leader is not just based on what I do. Now, yes, I am detail-oriented, I'm thorough, I'm fair, I'm consistent, but I also have those people in my circle of trust, my accountability circle, who keep me accountable. That's important both professionally and personally. I have mentors within the district, and then my first principal from my first year teaching in 2004 is still my professional mentor now. At any moment I can call her as a thought partner or to help me think things through. She was a very well-respected principal for several years. I keep those type of people around me that I know want what's best for me and know the type of person I am, they know my character, not just based off of a brief interaction, but they've known me for several years, and so I value that type of input.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Stay open, stay flexible, but know your craft. Put in the time to be educated, put in the time to know your staff, know your school, know the community that you serve. You gotta put in the time, because you can't be confident when you don't know what you're talking about. Because I have put in the time in my field, because I know that I'm great at what I do, I'm able to speak confidently and make decisions. But at the same token, you can't get arrogant or feel like you've arrived. You gotta stay in a position to receive feedback, because if you feel like you've arrived, then you're in the wrong field, because education is constantly changing. You can't come and expect it to be the same every day. Every day it's probably gonna be different - as a teacher, as an administrator, as a principal. Education is always changing. So even with you spending the time to know your craft, you still have to be open and flexible.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I would say inconsistency is a big challenge, and you have to be a sense-maker for a lot of things that you have no control over. In this role, there are things that I can control, and then there are a lot of things that I can't. I have to be level-headed and sense-make it before I can deliver that message to my leadership team and then my staff. I am basically a creature of habit, I'm a planner, I like to have things in a certain order, so I like to have control over things. Sometimes you're in a position where you don't have that control, and so the way that you respond is very important. My boss shared something with me just last week - she said she noticed that my processing time has improved. I used to always need a moment to process when getting information, but now, just because of the fast pace in the field, I have to process as the information is coming. On the opportunity side, it's the growth. When you stay in a position where you're able to sense-make, stay level-headed, and make decisions even when you don't have control, that puts you in a position where people can say they trust you to take things to the next level. My campus when I became principal was rated an F, literally a 50. We're now a 72, so we went from an F to a C. I project that we will be a B this year based on the data and the systems that we've put in place as a leadership team.
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