This year, Lick-Wilmerding High School welcomes a new Dean of Faculty, Alegria Barclay.
Barclay grew up overseas, primarily in Sudan, Kenya, Saudi Arabia and France. By the time she moved to the United States at 14, she had seen 36 countries. Barclay attended high school in Southern California and attended U.C. Berkeley for college. Now, she calls the Bay Area home.
“I feel really grateful to have the chance to see so much of the world. It teaches you a lot of important things, [such as] how much we have in common as human beings,” Barclay said.
Barclay has taught English overseas, but has also previously been a bookbinder, librarian and an activist. As an activist, she has worked for San Francisco Women Against Rape, as well as in the queer community for LGBTQ+ representation.
Barclay loves teaching students, although her new role is slightly removed from interacting with the student body at LWHS.
“Working with kids is the best job ever,” Barclay said. “It’s not for everybody, but if it’s for you, it’s really fantastic.”
Next year in addition to her dean role, Barclay plans to work closely with students by teaching an interdisciplinary course focused on the AIDS movement. She is also considering creating an Activism 101 class, hosted by The Center for Civic Engagement at LWHS.
“This is actually the first year in my life that I have not taught students and so it’s a little strange,” Barclay said.
Prior to joining LWHS, Barclay worked as the Social Justice and Equity Director at the Nueva School in Hillsborough, where she taught social justice-oriented classes. During her time there, she discovered her love for working with adults — something she had not known having taught students for most of her life. This is what drew her attention to the position of the Dean of Faculty, as she was interested in working within a role more specific to supporting adults in a school environment.
“[I hope] to create a healthy and joyful environment for teaching, which in turn hopefully spills over to the students,” Barclay said. “Supporting teachers ultimately supports students as well.”
“I think [LWHS] has a unique mission compared with other independent schools,” Barclay said. “I also love the diversity of the community. I mean that in all senses. Not just racial diversity but in terms of class, geographical locations, and public-private background, so I think that’s wonderful. I really like the shops. I like the whole tech arts part of the community as well and the public purpose lens that is applied.”
This year, Barclay is excited to learn about the community and culture at the school. She wants to figure out what makes LWHS such a special place to so many people, and how to preserve those aspects.
Some of Barclay’s passions outside of her work are science fiction, reading and art. The art she creates revolves around mediums such as textiles, sewing and embroidery, craft-making and painting. Barclay’s perfect day would include reading a book from start to finish, spending some time by the ocean, and eating her favorite cuisine, Vietnamese food.
Although not yet filling a teaching position, Barclay would still love to have students reach out to her, as someone who is approachable, to share their experiences with. It would help me better help teachers honestly — having a view and lens [from] talking with students,” Barclay said.
“My door is open, and there are snacks!” she added, enthusiastically.
