Despite Principal Barloga’s extremely busy schedule, she is committed to the students and believes she could never be too busy for them. She will always answer the door for a student in need.

As principal of San Leandro High, Barloga is constantly bustling around the office, helping students and staff alike. Although her days may be chaotic, Barloga maintains a cheerful personality, bringing a warm and welcoming feeling to the administration. 

“Something that would surprise students is that I am always always busy, but it’s not exhausting. It’s energizing, it inspires me and motivates me,” said Barloga, “Even if my door is closed, you can always knock.”

Barloga’s opinion about San Leandro High is overwhelmingly positive, when she expresses her love for many aspects of the school’s culture. She finds it to be a unique and welcoming community, more than any other school she has worked at.

“There are so many languages, so many kids from all over the place, different ethnicities, different personal beliefs and everyone gets along,” said Barloga. “I feel that it’s a community where people do really care about each other, and they want to make this school the best it can be.”

Barloga wants to continue to foster San Leandro High’s welcoming community, as well as improve the school’s academic competitiveness.

“So, I want to continue the Richardsons’ legacy, and add on to it, kind of grow our academic culture. Make sure everybody’s ready for their future,” said Barloga, “and then on top of that, [I want to] do everything I can to make sure that all of you guys and your families know or can navigate school.”

Before becoming an educator, Barloga attended The University of California at Berkeley, studying science. She spent her days researching, and while she enjoyed it, she felt that something was missing.

“To be honest, I remember when I was in college, I swore I would never be a teacher. So never say never. I studied biology at Cal and was working in biotech doing research, which I loved. It was really interesting, but I missed being around people. And so I got my teaching credential when I was in my late 20s,” said Barloga. “It was the perfect time in my career and where I was in my life. I did a career switch and I never regretted it for a second.”

Barloga’s experience with teaching multiple grades throughout the years taught her the separate needs of different age groups. This variety of teaching experiences contributed to the knowledge she now has in her role of principal.

“Well, I know your experience throughout school, and some of the things they do in elementary school, we should still be doing in high school, right?” said Barloga. “Just making sure that we see you as human beings and not just a name on my roster type of thing.” 

While her previous positions in education have heavily impacted her leadership skills, her experience as a mother allows her to have a dual perspective on how classroom dynamics can affect students. 

“I’m a mom, so I got to see what a kid experiences in school, just the small things that a teacher does or doesn’t do can really impact a child, either positively or negatively.” said Barloga. “I brought that to my classroom when I was a teacher and a principal, I really tried to listen to kids and families because often when they come [to me] with a problem or a situation they need help with, that’s their experience, and it needs to be addressed.”

She’s still growing and learning as a principal; Barloga acknowledges that interpersonal communication at San Leandro High isn’t perfect. 

“I’m trying to improve communication. Instead of sending out a message any time one pops in my head, I’d like to come up with cleaner communications systems for students, staff, and definitely for our families, ’cause I know a lot of our families have multiple kids, so they are just getting parent squared all day long,” said Barloga.

As the principal, Barloga takes great pride in her students. She has a great deal of care for each and every scholar that attends San Leandro High.

“There’s nothing more important in this world than you kids,” said Barloga.