The superintendent of the Los Alamitos Unified School District announced Thursday that the district has chosen “Defying Expectations” as its 2027 theme, saying the phrase, rather than breaking new ground, puts an exclamation point on its past themes.
“This is not a new initiative,” announced Supt. Dr. Andrew Pulver at LAEF’s annual ‘State of the District’ breakfast inside the clubhouse of the U.S. Navy Golf Course on Oct. 24, just something “woven into the district’s identity.”
Pulver’s comments came at the annual event sponsored by the Los Alamitos Education Foundation (LAEF), the first under the nonprofit’s new Executive Director, Dr. Tanya Adolph.
Adolph thanked Dr. Pulver and the LAEF board for selecting her to replace long-time administrator Carrie Logue, who recently moved on after raising nearly $5 million during her tenure.
Photo by David N. Young
“Strong schools are an investment in our future,” said Dr. Adolph, thanking Logue and the LAEF board for its continuing commitment to Los Al Unified. She said LAEF had awarded $650,000 in innovation grants and more than $4 million to the district for a variety of purposes in recent years.
Los Al Unified Board President Diana Hill said, “It has been my honor to serve the district for the past 16 years,” adding that she won a new term without opposition.
Hill honored the service of other board members and longtime Board member and former President Marlys Davidson, who recently announced her retirement and will not be returning to the board. The district announced it will honor her on November 17.
Pulver thanked the board for its agility and for allowing the district’s administration to be responsive to students.
“Defying expectations is choosing not to allow what has always been done,” said Pulver, pacing alone with only a handheld microphone throughout a room filled with financial supporters of the system and other educators.
“It is doing what is difficult today or what appears to be impossible to define what comes next,” he said.
“Defy the ordinary, the not yet, and even the impossible,” he said.
By invoking the theme, Pulver said students and educators should believe “in something bigger, challenging the norm and taking action together to make possibilities real.”
Photo by David N. Young
“It means believing in students even when they may not see their own potential,” he noted.
“I hope students and adults will be bold, take risks, and persevere, even when they don’t succeed the first time,” he said, “keeping moving through winning and losing seasons.”
Adults and teachers play a role, he said, “by stepping forward and solving problems, parents engaging with schools, volunteering and donating, and students taking risks, discovering strengths and recovering from setbacks.”
He called the district’s staff, families, students, and community partners essential to that work.
“This is not something new,” he explained, tying together all of the district’s recent themes like “excellence never rests,” “One Team, One Vision,” “Forward Focus,” “Be Extraordinary,” “Igniting Unlimited Possibilities,” and last year’s theme, “Be Good,” as precursors to “Defying Expectations.”
“They are values of innovation and continuous improvement,” said Pulver, which remain the central focus of the outstanding district. “No dream is too big or too small; it’s really about honoring each individual student’s journey,” the superintendent said.
The district even produced a video showing how its themes have impacted the lives and careers of administrators, parents, and students.
The film highlights impactful moments from the journeys of former students and administrators, including former student Jacob Pellicer, whose dream was to become a custodian and who defied expectations to make that dream a reality.
“As a student, Los Alamitos changed me for good,” says Jacob in the film, who is now a full-time custodian in the system. “The job I do here gives more back to me than I could ever give to it,” he said.
Pulver praised the district’s award-winning staff, calling out key teachers and administrators who have also been recognized by county, state, and even national organizations.
The superintendent said the Los Al Unified District is the 13th lowest-funded district of the state’s 345 districts, comparing the district’s spending of $16k per student to Laguna Beach’s $37k per student.
Yet he said the district spends 83 percent of its approximately $150 million budget on salaries and personnel costs.
“The strength of the district is not in the buildings,” he said, “it’s in the people that fill them.”
“We had 165 students out of 166 pass the Advanced Placement exam for precalculus, which is nearly 100 percent. Over 50 percent of those students got a five, the highest score you can get on an AP exam, he said.
“Defying expectations does not mean asking every student to take the same path,” said Pulver, announcing a new district initiative to explore a virtual independent study academy for middle and high school students.
“This is an effort to create more flexible ways for students to succeed while staying connected to school activities,” said Pulver, without going into specific details of the new initiative.
Finally, he announced more architectural changes at Los Alamitos High School, including a new Performing Arts Center designed by architectural partners West Group Designs, which features a “Griffin wing” look in a modern lobby that will soon adorn the school’s updated campus.
Pulver’s overarching point was that what teachers, parents, and administrators achieve together today can and will have a lasting impact on the students within the Los Alamitos Unified School District.
“When we defy expectations today,” said Pulver, we create the kind of impact that changes lives for good.”