Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Sobczak Chau.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
As a daughter of two public school teachers, teaching has always been in my blood. After graduating from UCLA, and a wonderful experience in the Peace Corps training elementary school teachers in Paraguay, I then received my Masters in Bilingual Education from Loyola Marymount University. It was then that I embarked on over 20 years of teaching in the classroom.
One of my first jobs was as a high school teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, where I originally taught a scripted curriculum and felt reduced to a mere technician. I eventually found my way to being a founding teacher at the first public Waldorf School in Los Angeles, where I became a storyteller, chalkboard artist, painter, singer, recorder player, outdoor educator, and field trip adventure planner, and where I found my home and a place where I believed we were providing education as it should be.
When I became a mother, after many years of being a Waldorf teacher, I began to imagine the school I wanted for my own child. As I looked around me, I realized that I didn’t seen that school in existence yet. I also knew I wanted to develop what had not been done before, even at other public Waldorf schools: to create a truly diverse, accessible, inclusive school committed to a deep respect for childhood, teaching the right thing at the right developmental time, an antiracist education, and to do it in a place where this type of education was less known. I wanted to make sure that the stories being told would speak to the children in this time and place–that the children would be our curriculum. I was lucky to find others who had the courage to join me in doing this work. Together, we created the framework for what would be El Rio Community School, a Waldorf-based public school in Lincoln Heights that focuses not only on the intellectual development of our students but on the whole child, nurturing them to unlock their full potential while also preparing them for the uncertainties of the world ahead.
El Rio is now entering our 4th year, and we have grown from 110 to 270 students and from 8 staff to over 50.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road has definitely not been smooth, but I don’t think the road to building anything that truly matters is. Opening a charter school is full of challenges. There is a long application process, public hearings, the need for community support, networking, fundraising, as well as hiring staff all before there was even a physical location for our school.
Finding a suitable location is its own massive challenge as real estate in L.A. for schools is very limited. But even after we were approved, had found a location, and were just about to open, COVID hit.
We spent almost our entire first year online. As a new school, with a brand new staff, and several guiding principles that are steeped in being in each other’s presence, having to redesign the curriculum on the fly to try and recreate the Waldorf experience via Zoom while our students were in relative isolation was an immense challenge.
But I must say, one of the things I’m most proud of is how our teachers, staff, parents, and students really rose to the challenge and I believe we came out of Covid stronger than most.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As Executive Director of El Rio, there are a lot of hats I wear, from leading our staff of 50, handling the administrative issues for the school, fundraising, community outreach, and setting the vision for the future of our school. But my most important role is to serve the needs of our children.
Growing up in the Midwest, I was taught the value of hard work as well as humility. One of the things I’m most grateful for in my upbringing was the belief that even if I don’t know how to do something I can figure it out. But I’m also quick to admit when I don’t know something and eager to learn from others who have more expertise than I do.
These qualities have really helped me navigate not only starting a school but adapting to the needs of our rapid growth.
Having been a teacher for 20 years I’m still in touch with many of my previous students who are now out in the world. And hearing them share that I played a positive role in them becoming who they are today… holds a special place in my heart.
But what I’m most proud of professionally is how our staff, our parents, and our community are so committed to doing what’s best for our children and who show up every day to create an environment that will best prepare them to confidently enter the world ready to share their gifts and to live out their dreams.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
For me, taking risks comes down to the outcome desired. Starting a Public Waldorf Charter school in Los Angeles is the biggest risk I’ve ever taken. I had 20 years of experience teaching and creating curriculum, but there was much more that would be needed to successfully open the school. From building community support to fundraising to finding a school location, to getting approval from the LAUSD board in an environment where over 50% of applications at the time were being denied. It all added up to a mountain of risk. But I have always felt that’s why I’m here on the planet is to serve children. So when it comes to serving that mission and my life purpose I’m willing to take on massive risk. Risk of failure, risk of having to learn a lot of new things quickly, risk that we will find a location for our school, risk that we will be able to continue to raise the necessary funding, all pale in terms of my desire to serve as many children as possible in the best way I know how… providing a holistic education.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.elrioschool.org
- Instagram: @elriocommunityschool
