A Principal's Bold Stand for Student-Centered Leadership
""I make no apologies anymore," says Vauncia Allen, carrying the conviction of a leader who has found her resolve. "I am no longer concerned about adult feelings as it pertains to this work." These aren't just bold words – they represent a transformative shift in leadership at Dvorak School of Excellence in Chicago, where Allen took the helm as principal in 2022. Through her involvement with the National Equity Project's District Redesign Network (DRN), Allen discovered not just a new leadership approach, but her voice as an agent of change.
“She was always engaged yet very quiet,” shares NEP Director, Linda Ponce de León. Faced with issues like chronic absenteeism and lack of teacher accountability, Allen prioritized reflection and connecting the dots early on in her DRN experience, according to Ponce De León. “She didn’t always see herself as someone who had something to contribute.”
Engaging in empathy work is a core aspect of the DRN program, which is rooted in Liberatory Design. When Allen initiated a listening campaign to hear directly from her students, she uncovered a crucial insight: students often felt more connected to school support staff than their classroom teachers. So she set out to learn from the relationships between students and non-teachers, and use these insights to begin reshaping teacher development and school culture.
Her commitment to student-centered leadership took physical form when she moved her desk into the hallway to directly observe student transitions and gain firsthand data. “She wouldn’t have done that before [DRN],” notes Ponce de León. This small, yet bold move opened direct lines of communication with students and challenged adult-centered narratives about student behavior.
"You have to be comfortable being uncomfortable," Allen now tells her staff, a stark contrast to her earlier leadership style, where she often worried about others' discomfort. "And that's the direction that we're moving in." This unapologetic stance emerged from deep, intentional work. She launched a "Mission Possible” theme to rally her staff around the idea of both centering students and meeting their goals. Then, rather than implementing top-down directives, Allen employed strategies like "Cupcakes and Conversations," engaging every staff member in one-on-one discussions about equity and its practical application in their school.
Allen is modeling the type of leadership needed to change her school’s culture to one where students’ needs are centered first, a goal her NEP affectionately describes as “the prize.” “She’s no longer afraid or hesitant to speak up,” says Ponce de León, speaking of how Allen is now a leader who confidently challenges the status quo. “She’s keeping her eye on the prize.”
