How appropriate. There I was with the “unruly” Sue and Sue when we saw our name tags said we were going to the principal’s office. (Though Sue B. had earlier referred to Sue S. and me as unruly, it fit all the way around.)

Indeed, we were going to the principal’s office! It wasn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last. This school and this principal are special. The children are delightful. As we walked with the principal, children waved shyly to us and reached out to her for hugs.

These are children from migrant families, some just learning to speak English, while others are immersed in dual language learning. Their family life and circumstances are hard to imagine for privileged white women like us, but our hearts see and embrace their reality. We’ve come here to deliver donations and only wish we had more to give today.

Every time I have talked with the principal, I’ve been impressed and touched. She also comes from a more privileged background and academic path, but her professional life is committed to these children and families.

She shares the school’s challenges, their frustrations, and how they face them. She has a vision for the school’s future growth. She displays pictures of some of the school’s success stories. Most of the teachers and aides were her own students or came from migrant families themselves. She tells us about the extra steps they take to provide positive experiences, such as a field trip to a children’s museum. Today, she tells us how legislative and DOGE funding cuts are threatening much of what they do and cutting services like Head Start. It is heartbreaking, especially as I see children reading, eagerly raising their hands to answer questions, racing happily around a P.E. yard. They are children, like all others.

Their families are farming the food we eat, picking oranges and strawberries, cleaning our homes and offices, mowing yards and golf courses, and more. They are doing jobs so many of us don’t want, or have, to do. They want their children to have better lives, and many do. The principal and her team support these families, too, through food banking and donations. This school feels like a safe space. (Yet here I am, unwilling to name this beautiful place, lest this community be targeted.)

Talking to the principal makes me want to do more. She mentions wanting volunteer readers for the kids, and perhaps that will be my next step. As we walk back to the office, a young girl races over to place stickers on our name tags. She beams when I thank her.

I look forward to my next visit to the principal’s office.