Laura Shain has been at the helm of the Lagunitas School District through dire straits and exciting times, listening, empathizing and making difficult decisions. She has served as principal since 2011 and for the past year also as superintendent. But at the end of this school year, she will retire, marking the end of more than three decades in progressive education and 13 years at Lagunitas.
Ms. Shain said she will retire with an easy mind. The district is set up for a new era marked by growth and unity after a difficult merger of the Montessori and Open Classroom programs.
“The foundation has been built and the school will never stop changing, but we’re just poised for more fine-tuning at this point,” she said. “I’m really happy that I’m here this year to see the fruits of our labor. We’re at such a good place.”
Ms. Shain has always been on the vanguard of changes in education. A lifelong artist, she has emphasized the arts as an integral part of learning, encouraged staff to teach single subjects rather than having to switch after each year and promoted progressive values through robust special education and banishing sexist dress codes.
Ms. Shain is a woman of few words. She often sits quietly in school board meetings, listening intently to parents, teachers and trustees. As at many progressive schools, parents play a big role in their children’s education at Lagunitas. Ms. Shain prefers to act as a mediator rather than a dictator, basing decisions on input rather than her own opinions.
Many staff and parents describe her unique ability to listen and lead with empathy while advocating for their children. Her legacy will be felt in many ways, but most notably in her role unifying the district after two historic programs were merged last spring.
Originally from upstate New York, Ms. Shain enrolled at Bard College to pursue a degree in painting in 1975. Encouraged by her parents, she was empowered to explore her own education at a pace and on terms that resonated with her.
She moved west in 1982, working at a series of nonprofits in San Francisco. The jobs were fast-paced and she worked alongside other passionate people following their dreams to help out the little guy. “That’s when I got in touch with wanting to be a teacher,” she said.
Her first teaching position was at Pacifica Unified School District at Cabrillo Elementary, teaching second through sixth grades. Much like Lagunitas, Cabrillo’s program leaned on parent involvement and infused learning with the arts. She moved up the ranks in the district, to vice principal and then principal. Among her many achievements was helping implement a diversity celebration program, which won her district an award in 2011.
But as the years went on, Ms. Shain said, she wanted to be at a district with a stronger sense of its programs. When she saw an opening for principal in a town in Marin County called San Geronimo—where the district had a Waldorf, a Montessori and an Open program—her interest was piqued.
“She was universally our pick for the job,” said Forest Knolls resident Meegan Potter, who served on the Lagunitas school board from 2010 to 2018. “She had such an obvious care for the students and their environment that there was just no question that she was the candidate. She had been a teacher, and that perspective was a tremendous boon to guiding this district.”
In her first year, Ms. Shain nixed dress code rules that have been shown to disproportionately affect girls and students of color. It was several years before other progressive districts nationwide began dissolving similar rules.
“Policing how girls dress, body shaming them—it was outdated and felt sexist,” Ms. Shain said. “I’ve always been proud that we have a non-sexist dress code here.”
Ms. Shain also helped to bring the district into a golden age for special education, serving as the district’s special education director and liaison for the county’s education office and ensuring abundant staffing for the program.
Katherine Sanford, a middle school teacher at Lagunitas who has a child with a learning disability, applauded Ms. Shain’s patience and composure.
“She was an advocate for my child at a time when I really needed her to be,” Ms. Sanford said. “It takes a lot of time to be an advocate for a child with special needs, but she never gave one indication that she was frustrated.”
Ms. Shain worked alongside then-Superintendent John Carroll and Chief Business Officer Jeff Lippstreu. The dynamic trio guided the district through tough decisions like the dissolution of the school’s Waldorf program in 2014, a move sparked by low enrollment and budget woes. The decision led to an exodus of some families and the creation of a new charter school in Fairfax, but it also consolidated the staff and budget.
“It wasn’t us wanting to close the program,” Ms. Potter said. “[Ms. Shain] held our community together at a time when it was going through a very painful transition. I think that having emotional space to hear people out is so important and is what made her such a good fit for the district.”
When Covid hit, the district was again scrambling as families moved to schools in Fairfax that had reopened and students and staff were split between two struggling programs. After years of discussion, two teachers, one from each program, proposed a unified program to Ms. Shain, and last April, the board voted to merge.
“I never liked it when people talked about joining them together,” Ms. Shain said. “I always thought we could find ways to bring kids and parents together while keeping the programs separate. When we did join the programs, it was to make classes robust enough so that kids have a diversity of learning styles and personalities and a peer group that’s bigger with teachers that have larger teams. I felt that without coming together, it would harm the future of Lagunitas.”
The decision was not without criticism—primarily aimed at Ms. Shain.
“I’m kind of blown away that it even happened,” said Mr. Carroll, who now serves as the Marin County Superintendent of Schools. “There were people who wished it went otherwise, but she was able to leverage those relationships and come to a common agreement. Her ability to know communities, take brave stances and work for the kids—she was one of the best administrators.”
This year, classrooms are fuller, staffing is ample and excess classrooms have been turned into enrichment centers for music, computer science and art.
On a recent morning, Ms. Shain scrolled through dozens of pictures she had taken of students’ art. She had a wide smile and a comment for each piece. “This one’s really kind of trippy,” she said, pointing to a bright mosaic of a sunrise over Mount Barnabe. “I just love their work.”
In her retirement, Ms. Shain is looking forward to spending more time on her own watercolors and collages, which feature geometric shapes, natural forms and muted tones. She will also seek adjunct teaching and principal roles at other districts in the Bay Area.
“We’re losing such a legacy,” Ms. Potter said. “There’s a Laura-sized hole to replace and it’s going to be very challenging.”