MEMBERS OF THE BOARD

RICHARD A. VLADOVIC, Ed.D., PRESIDENT

TAMAR GALATZAN
MNICA GARCA
BENNETT KAYSER
MNICA RATLIFF
STEVEN ZIMMER

LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Administrative Office
333 South Beaudry Avenue, 11th Floor
Los Angeles, California 90017
Telephone: (213) 241-0415

JOHN E. DEASY, Ph.D.

SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
MAUREEN S. DIEKMANN
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EARLY CHILDHOOD

DEAN TAGAWA
EXECUTIVE COORDINATOR, EARLY CHILDHOOD

August 26, 2014

To whom it may concern,
I am writing this letter of recommendation for Ana Oregel to be the next principal at Lake Street School Ms.
Oregel is currently the principal at Gratts and Castelar Early Education Centers and has dramatically improved
both of her sites. Since her arrival at Gratts and Castelar, she has already significantly impacted both of the
school communities by building relationships between the early education centers and the neighboring
elementary school. She is also successfully piloting a new curriculum at Gratts EEC and has developed a yearlong professional development plan to guide the work at both sites this year. In addition, enrollment at both of
the schools is vastly improved under her leadership.
She has taken time to attend all of our principal meetings participated in TGDC and SLGDC this year and been
actively involved in leading cultural changes at both of the sites. Over the last year, she has hosted early
education teacher trainings, early education aide training, and new principal meetings. The willingness to be an
active participant has also helped parents and staff to experience how an educational leader can help them with
grade level articulation.
She established vertical articulation with the school that Gratts EEC fed to such that the two staffs were able to
meet together for discussions and training. Through her efforts, the two schools were also able to give parents
tours, talk to them about common core state standards, and help with the transition from one school to the other.
What is significant is that these events did not happen prior to Ms. Oregels arrival.
While Ms. Oregel is only beginning her second year as an early education principal, she has also worked hard to
develop a quality program at her sites. She takes staff accountability very seriously and the staff attendance at
both of her sites has improved dramatically. In addition, she is not afraid to have difficult conversations with
staff members when they are not performing to the best of their capability. Her background as the Head Teacher
has also been a valuable resource as she is able to analyze data, recognize quality classroom environments, and
drive instructional improvements.
Having this opportunity to work with Ms.Oregel has been a wonderful experience. As Ms. Oregels direct
supervisor, I have found her to be thoughtful, direct, and willing to learn. I am confident that she would make a
fine principal at Lake Street School because she has the right attitude to drive school wide change. If you have
any questions, please feel free to contact me at (213) 241-6291 or at dtagawa@lausd.net.
Sincerely,

Dean Tagawa, ECED

Executive Coordinator