Principal brings renewed environment focus to Marblehead Elementary

By Greg Mellen

When the Capistrano Unified School District went looking for a new principal for Marblehead Elementary School, the district was seeking an innovator to lead Marblehead in the transition into a focus on Environmental Studies in its curriculum.

Jamie Goodwyn, who took over in July at the K-5 school in San Clemente, knows all about transformation and developing programs.

As a principal in the Ocean View School District in northwest Orange County, she oversaw the reopening of Lake View Elementary, which was closed for two years due to asbestos concerns. When the school returned under Goodwyn, it emerged as the district’s first STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) magnet school.

“I think that’s one of the reasons I was hired,” Goodwyn said.

Goodwyn has been an educator for 20 years and comes to Marblehead after nine years as a principal in the Ocean View School District.

The reopening and reimagining of Lake View, a K-5 school in Huntington Beach, was a massive undertaking.

Goodwyn hopes to transform Marblehead into its own powerful magnet. With the study of climate change and global warming and the burgeoning growth of so-called green industries, Environmental Studies will become increasingly important in future education.

Goodwyn hopes the renewed emphasis will draw students to her 260-student school, which has seen attendance dip since its peak of more than 600 in 2008-2011.

“Our arms are wide open,” Goodwyn said.

Marblehead is one of seven elementary schools in Capistrano Unified to launch pilot magnet programs with different emphases. According to the district, the schools were selected to “transform their educational programs through progressive themes and collaborative teaching practices,” as part of CapoForward efforts.

Other schools, with concentrations ranging from arts and communication to innovation STEAM to college prep, are Del Obispo, Hidden Hills, Kinoshita, Clarence Lobo, R.H. Dana, and Wood Canyon.

First things first

Like other schools, Marblehead is working to overcome and recover from the lingering effects and upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result, before launching a new curriculum, Goodwyn says job one will be to build relationships with the faculty and staff and to re-engage with and build community.

“This year we’re working on the culture and community,” she said. “We’re trying to bring back the culture.”

However, next year, Goodwyn said, “Environmental Studies will really kick off.”

Goodwyn says the school already has elements of Environmental Studies in the curriculum of some grades. There are school gardens that students learn about. Recycling is stressed and water refilling stations are available to encourage conservation through reusable bottles.

That’s just the start.

“We’re going to do more project-based studying and blending it with an environmental approach rather than in isolation,” Goodwyn said. That means incorporating environmental themes into subjects such as math and reading.

While preparing for the next school year, Goodwyn has been doing a lot of studying about environmental subjects and issues.

Goodwyn will also be involved with forming and strengthening partnerships with environmental and ecological study and teaching organizations. One of those, just down the hill from Marblehead, is the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, which rescues and returns marine mammals to the wild. Already the school has had virtual lessons with the Pacific Marine Mammal Center and that relationship may grow. There will also be field trips and events, such as a beach clean-up in March.

“I’m learning as I go,” Goodwyn said of her crash course into all things environmental.

“I’m kind of coming into it from out of the sky. But I’m a mom and I realize how important it is,” Goodwyn said of environmental studies. “It’s part of our daily lives.”

From climate change and emissions to conservation and recycling to existing and alternative energy sources to organic to industrial agriculture, Environmental Studies touches daily life, and may help define the future children face.

Preparing for a new world

In keeping with the Capistrano Unified School District’s goal to prepare students for future employment, Goodwyn said the children will learn all about careers in environmental fields.

Beyond the science of the environment, Goodwyn said she is also making sure the students learn about engineering and math. As the green economy, which is still in its nascency, continues to evolve, an entire infrastructure is also being built and today’s students will be at the forefront of that.

“There are so many careers out there,” Goodwyn said, referring to the environmental movement. “It’s going to be really exciting to expose kids to that.”

Beyond career objectives, there is a much deeper mission as societies adjust to ever-changing climates, economic, political and meteorological.

Tomorrow’s leaders are going to have to understand and weigh what being stewards of the planet will entail, the myths and the facts, the costs and benefits about the environmental future.

“It’s a huge responsibility,” Goodwyn said about helping students form a mindset that understands and appreciates the environment and all it means.

“We want to push the framework out to build future leaders,” Goodwyn said. “We’re diving in head first.”

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