After 38 Years in Education, Castro Valley Adult School Director Retires

With almost four decades in education under his belt, Castro Valley Adult and Career Education Center's (CVACE) director will soon be retired.

Jerry Green started working for the Castro Valley Unified School District in 1974 as a school counselor for Creekside Middle School (then called Earl Warren Jr. High).

The 63-year-old Oakland resident originally planned on becoming a school counselor, and after doing so, he decided he wanted to get into the organizational aspect of education.

He then spent the next 25 years in K-12 education as a teacher, counselor and site administrator. His move to adult education began with the Hayward Adult School, where he spent four-and-a-half years as a vice principal. Finally, he came to CVACE, where he's worked for almost nine years.

According to Green, the transition from K-12 education to adult education was like night and day. Not only did adult education feel like school, it also felt like a business, where marketing the classes being offered was extremely important.

"You gotta listen to what your customers are saying via your office staff and teachers," he said. "Unlike K-12, [the students] don't have to be here."

He said that he most-enjoyed the fact that there was no rigorous curriculum — changes could occur in a matter of days when it came to the classes offered to his students.

"I can do something in a matter of two weeks that would take a high school two years to do in its curriculum," he said.

He made sure to offer new classes each year to reflect the community's interest and demand for certain types of courses. However, he also made sure a majority of them addressed the lifelong needs of the community such as literacy and career training courses.

"We do it as sort of a labor of live," Green said.

On average, about 4,200 students attend classes at CVACE each year. And it's those students who Green says he will miss most along with his staff.

"This has been the best job I've ever had," he said. "You always have to innovate."

From helping students receive their diploma to offering classes enriching the lives of adults with disabilities, Green said CVACE offers a range of affordable classes that benefit adults in the community who are unemployed or underemployed.

Though it was a good 38 years in education for Green, he anticipates what is to come with retirement.

"I'm looking forward to really not working 50 to 60 hours a week," he said. "And doing the things I've not been able to do."

From playing softball and traveling more, to getting his pilot's license, Green has a list of things he hopes to accomplish in the years to come.

"It's been a dream of mine," he said about flying.

Green's last contracted day is Feb. 29, but he plans on helping CVACE Assistant Principal Susie Passeggi smoothly transition into her new role as director until June.

An assistant principal will then be hired in July to fill her current position.

One of several of her goals is to continue actively engaging students and continue the reputation of excellence Green has upheld for CVACE.

"I see us as filling the gaps of what's not being provided," Passeggi said. "In all my [24] years in education, my reputation was that I'll listen and respond to community needs."