After eight years at La Quinta High School, three of them as principal, Dr. Rebecca Cook left the nest to take a position at the Desert Sands Unified School District as the director of personnel for leadership development.

DSUSD recently created the position as a way to develop leaders at the schools within the district. “I get to be really creative and use a lot of what I learned in my grad program and my doctorate program, [as well as] what I’ve learned as a leader,” stated Cook.

Cook hopes to take the school district to new heights. She envisions assisting teachers and staff in their improvement and establishing a renowned program. “Maybe it will become this leadership development program that other districts model theirs after,” she said. “[I want to] make sure every school site has very good leaders.” Cook is most excited about being able to create courses and modules to help refine staff.

Reflecting on her time at LQHS, Cook added, “I’m absolutely going to miss the students.” She mentioned one student who came to her office to thank her before she left, leaving Cook in tears.

“One of the favorite parts of my job is when I’m out in the community. […] Our kids are so nice and they make you feel so good about who you are and what you do. So, when you’re out in the community and you say, ‘I’m the principal of La Quinta High School,’ people always say, ‘That’s such a good school.’ It’s so awesome.”

Cook’s contributions to LQHS have proven her to be a strong proponent of supportive school culture. Mr. Schneider, one of the assistant principals, described Cook as a “master educator [who was] wonderful at pushing academics forward and pushing students” to do better.

Cook finds some of her biggest accomplishments to be improving spirit and hiring new teachers at our school. In addition, her introduction of #LQPride and the slogan “Be Bold” has had a positive influence on LQHS’ relationship with the community.

Though sad about leaving LQ, Cook believes that her new position will take her in the right direction for her career. She found it to be a position she could not allow to pass her by. Cook is excited to start working on having “really good forward-thinking leaders to lead a staff to push schools forward so that students can excel.”