Day Creek Intermediate has seen principals come and go over the past few years. Once again we have another new principal, Mrs.Vander Laan, but this time it’s a familiar face. Here is everything you need to know about our former assistant and now current principal.

Mrs. Vander Laan is a mom of three boys, ages nine, seven, and four. She has lived in Rancho Cucamonga her whole life. She entered education in 2013, and she has been with the Etiwanda School District ever since. This includes ten years in the classroom and 3.5 years as an assistant principal. 

Although Mrs. Vander Laan is new to the top job, she is definitely not an administrative rookie. In fact, she was introduced to the world of teaching long before she started in Etiwanda. 

When Vander Laan was only five years old, she would run around in the gym with her brothers over summer break while her dad, a principal at Kucera Middle School, worked. Vander Laan would also hang out with her mom, a first-grade teacher, at Alta Loma Christian School. She would help her mom out in the classroom over her spring break and lead a reading group for the first graders. This is what ultimately influenced her to go into teaching and become a principal.

“When I was five, it was when my dad got his first principal job, so I feel like I grew up in a school. I would play in the gym when he was working. My mom was a first-grade teacher for 16 years, and I would be in her classroom. I feel like I was very influenced as a kid…I have felt like I have been a teacher ever since I was ten years old,” said Mrs. Vander Laan.

Being a principal is no joke. Mrs. Vander Laan is responsible for the whole school including 125 staff members made up of 52 teachers, 10 campus support, and 63 instructional aides. She carries the weight of making sure that Day Creek functions properly, all while handling a pretty big budget. She isn’t limited to dealing with students who have behavior problems.

“It feels pretty crazy to be a principal for the first time. [As] a vice principal, you have to deal with more discipline and phone calls from parents, whereas now I get to focus on staff development and making relationships with them, which is nice,” she said.

Handling a budget at a school like Day Creek can be pretty hard. There are so many places the money can go, like our Howl journalism team, the Tracks yearbook group, sports, assemblies, field trips, and so many more extracurricular activities the school has to offer. When the Howl asked Mrs. Vander Laan what she would do with the school if she were given a check of $1 million of play money, she said she would work on the field and add “chill” spaces for students to escape the upcoming California heat. 

“I would make our field nicer; that would be my top priority. I feel like it needs a little more love. I would also add more classrooms and make some cool spaces for what kids are interested in,” she said.

Mrs. Vander Laan hopes to stay at Day Creek for many years to come. She enjoys helping students and wants them to thrive.