After three years as the assistant principal at Tamalpais High School, Connor Snow has stepped down. Now, Andy Lieberman has taken on the position and he said he’s ready to bring the time and energy required to continue making Tam the supportive place it is. 

Lieberman has worked at over 15 schools in California and most recently left Santa Rosa High School. Not only has he worked as a vice principal,  he also has experience working in the private sector for around 15 years, as well as working with a gang prevention program. 

His call to working with kids started after he had worked 10 years in the wine industry, and then worked with domestic violence victims. While working with domestic violence victims and helping them achieve peace, he found his purpose in helping people. Lieberman proceeded to earn his masters degree in counseling and later received his PPS (degree in school counseling) from Sonoma State University in 1998. 

Lieberman knows what it takes to set the standards to make an equal opportunity environment in a school. “I worked with students who didn’t have opportunities. So I watched systems get built that serve only certain students,” Lieberman said. 

Prior to working at Santa Rosa High School, Lieberman also worked at Santa Rosa’s Elsie Allen High School, which has a “58 percent total economically disadvantaged rate [of students].” 

Elise Allen also has a “72 percent graduation rate (well below the state median), and a 22.8 percent college readiness rate,” according to US News website. These challenges follow with resilience and have given him the experience of working with a large variety of students.  

In his first month at Tam High, Lieberman has settled into the regular responsibilities of an assistant principal. He is working with the Associated Student Body (ASB) leadership and other programs to develop Tam in new ways, and getting to know fellow staff and administration. 

On a daily basis Lieberman is seeing, understanding, and helping students. While he manages students’ behavior, he said he communicates and helps them reflect on the issues with behavior or other matters. He believes that communication with students about what they are going through at home that may have influenced their mood, choices, or ability to thrive in school, is a vital part of creating a school environment that is ready to support its students. 

“If a student comes to me and we can talk and figure something out, by taking the time, it takes less time than writing an expulsion,” Lieberman said. 

Along with helping students, he is in charge of supervising leadership, physical education, and world language courses. Lieberman said he looks forward to working with leadership as well as the anti-racism movements at Tam. 

Working with his past schools has given him an obligation to support and do the best he can to help these movements, he said, and his work background has given him an exceeding understanding and interest into expanding these movements. 

A challenge from last year that Lieberman’s plan to conquer is getting to know staff and students a lot better. “With COVID things were so busy, there was no time with staff and students. I think it’s important to know people and let them know me,” Lieberman said. Coming back and still dealing with COVID-19 has appeared to tangle the bonds of communication and stability between students and administration staff, specifically the assistant principals. His call to build strong connections with students and staff is important to him to make a healthy and positive environment at Tam, he said. 

Lieberman’s favorite thing about Tam so far has been being in the classrooms and spending time with the students. He said he looks forward to a fabulous year and is ready to boost and improve the Tam community.