Stephanie Sonik (S): What did you do before you came to Bellaire as an assistant principal (AP)?

Al Lloyd (L): I worked for the Northeast area schools, which include Wheatly, Barbra-Jordan, Cashmere and a few other schools. I started out as an automotive instructor, and I moved up to be a magnet coordinator and special programs coordinator working with 10 other campuses on their career and technology programs.

S: What made you want to be an AP at Bellaire?

A: When I finished my master’s degree in education, I wanted to help more students. I was working with some global corporations who were helping students get jobs. It was more of a career and technology area than I was focused in. With the growth of helping children in a global setting, I looked at moving to a comprehensive high school. Bellaire was one of the schools I looked at. I saw that the demographics had changed, and that Bellaire also is a Title 1 school. It looked like the perfect school to come back home to, and to give back to the community which helped me become who I am today. I am a product of Bellaire high school, and it is an honor to come back and support the mission to educate students.

S: What are you most looking forward to about being an AP?

A: What I am most looking forward to is bringing all of my knowledge and experience that I have collected throughout the years, and finding out what has changed at Bellaire and what I can help improve. Starting out, I’m observing the culture and how things have changed. I am looking at my setting and everything is so surreal now that I am back at a school where I once walked through the halls. It had given me an opportunity to be so successful in life. My passion is to find out the needs of the students and answer important questions such as if we can fill in the gaps and where can we promote success so that students can succeed.

S: What are some things you remember from your time as a student?

A: The most challenging thing about coming to a school like Bellaire is that I was part of the desegregation of HISD. What that meant was that I had an opportunity to go to Bellaire on an MGM contract. That stands for minorities going to majority schools. I took a bus ride every day from third ward and I would come here and learn. The things I remember when I first stepped on the campus was that, “wow, these kids are reading outside underneath these big oak trees. Am I going to be doing that?” because that wasn’t me. Two months later, I was reading under the big oak trees and going to the library. That was the culture of the school. It was changing my mindset on education. Learning was fun at Bellaire high school

S: How do you think Bellaire has changed since you were a student here?

A: A lot has changed, but what has not changed coming back on to campus is that you still have students that want to learn. However, the diversity has increased. There are so many different languages that are spoken and all these diverse cultures that are here now. So much has changed, but I think it has made Bellaire better because I see more integration of cultures and conversations with different types of people. There are students from across the world wanting to go here.

S: How do you feel that being a former student here will help you as an AP here?

A: I know all the hiding spots, I know all the places where kids skip and I know what time they try to leave campus. There is not much the students can get over on me. I know where all the restrooms are located, the best times to skip, the teachers that they are going to skip. Maybe that is a good or a bad thing, I don’t know yet.

S: What are you looking forward to this year?

A: I am looking forward to going to most of the football game to watch the players play. I am also looking forward to absorbing the energy that Bellaire has now. That means that the activities that go on, the clubs that go on, the energy that Bellaire has is just electrifying. I really want to see kids who cannot connect be able to connect. There is so much for them at the school.