On Feb. 22, principal Sukanya Goswami announced that she would not return to PHS for the 2024-25 school year, in an email to the PHS community.
Goswami said she intends to finish her doctorate in educational leadership in 2025 at Marymount College, based in Virginia. However, her courses will be online, allowing her to remain in her home city of Fremont.
When she came to PHS as a new principal, Goswami said she was ready for the challenge. Prior to serving as PHS principal, she was an assistant principal at Acalanes High School.
“I had been a site admin for seven years, so I knew what to expect,” Goswami said.
While she knew what the position entailed, Goswami said she did not have any preconceived ideas or expectations about the Piedmont environment.
“All I knew was that [PHS] was a similar population to Acalanes, but I was not very familiar with [PHS] since I am from the South Bay,” Goswami said.
Goswami said that having no prior knowledge of Piedmont helped her to approach the new position with an open mind, ready to meet the needs of the students and staff. Goswami’s experience as a principal for the last two years has been generally positive, with a few challenges.
“I think the hardest part [was] that every little detail was my responsibility. That took me some time to wrap my head around,” Goswami said.
Goswami was even able to achieve some of her initial visions that she set out for herself before taking on the position of principal.
“Something I’m really happy I started is all the different events we do during Academy. I really enjoyed it because it is more than just making up tests or doing homework. Students took agency and wanted to use that time to have difficult conversations with their peers or learn new things beyond the classroom,” Goswami said.
Several Academy periods were used for schoolwide events, such as the Consent Assembly.
“The academy events are very interesting and I love them, however I feel like they are too concentrated and should be spread,” senior Romi Bhatia said.
Goswami said she hopes that the student agency she witnessed during the Academy periods will continue after she is gone.
Goswami said she is not yet sure if she will return to being a principal after earning her doctorate.
“If an opportunity comes where I can be a principal again, take it, but it would not be my first choice,” Goswami said.
Although Goswami is unsure of what exact career she plans to pursue, she said she hopes to take on a new role in curriculum development after continuing along her educational journey.
“Curriculum development and instruction are two of my passions, so I [won’t want to] work with these at a nonprofit organization, school district, or any county office of education. That would be my dream,” Goswami said.
