DOWNEY - Ask Dr. Wayne Shannon, and he’ll tell you that what’s being done at Downey Unified School District is proud work.

“I am so proud to work for our school district. I’m so proud to work for our board of education, with our superintendent, with the colleagues I have the blessing to work with,” said Shannon. “I’d put what we do up against anybody, anywhere, anytime, any day of the week.

“I don’t say that to be boastful; that’s not my point. I say that from the standpoint of commitment to excellence, commitment to shared expectation, shared accountability. Commitment to our students and our families.”

Shannon is one of Downey’s Assistant Superintendents. In that role, he oversees all 13 elementary schools and the special education division, as well as serves as a district liaison for the Downey Foundation for Educational Opportunities.

Still, he gives much of the credit to those he works with.

“I have the great privilege of having wonderful people who are part of the team who I am also on, and that team truly starts with our Board of Education and works down to our Superintendent and my colleagues at his cabinet level,” said Shannon. “But I also have amazing directors who oversee those core areas that I’m responsible for, and together we do great work on behalf of our students.”

Shannon said that each school was “an organization within an organization.”

“Each one has its own personality based on the students and the families that are arriving every single day, the leaders at each of those schools, and the staff - both certificated and classified - have their own personality,” said Shannon. “A piece of my work is to be close to all of that and have a good understanding of what our leaders are trying to navigate in those school settings so I can be a value add.

“It really requires me to know my schools, to know my principals and VPs, and to understand what they’re trying to accomplish at their local level to make sure that we are always pursuing the macro level work that our Board of Education expects from us. That’s probably going to be one of the trickiest, ongoing strategic things that I deal with daily, but honestly, it’s one of the things I love most: there’s no two days that are alike, per se; it keeps it exciting.”

Shannon enjoys visiting teachers and students at each site; so much so, in fact, that he says “there’s never enough time at our schools.”

“It’s such wonderful moments to get out there in our classrooms with teachers to see what’s happening with our students; it truly is inspiring,” said Shannon. “I work hard to get myself out there as much as possible, but I am also responsible to work with my colleagues and with our superintendent on macro interests for our organization, which ultimately supports what’s happening at the schools.

“That has to take place, and I won’t lie there are moments where we get into really challenging work that maybe pulls me away from the site a little more than I wish…Selfishly, I won’t lie, I’m always going to find reasons to get out to those schools because it matters. If we’re going to ask our site leaders to be part of something bigger than themselves, I need to be in it with them and teachers need to see that as well as classified staff, so I work hard to make sure that I have some consistent presence.”

Downey Unified boasts a 95% graduation rate. That success starts at the elementary schools.

“Our school district is currently working – and has been, quite frankly, for at least the past three plus years – on a true vertical articulation that’s embedded in rigor,” said Shannon. “What makes it unique…It’s easy to talk about vertical articulation. It’s challenging to truly work to accomplish it. With the addition of transitional kindergarten now being a core grade level, at our elementary schools we have those students for seven years, from TK to fifth grade. From middle school through high school is another seven years. So, for half of their educational experience in Downey Unified School District, it is the elementary’s school’s responsibility to make sure that we are preparing them for that transition to secondary.

“What we have done…our transition grades at Downey Unified aren’t what many times people will hear, being fifth grade, ninth grade. Our transition grades are every grade: TK to K transition, first to second transition. That’s how you create a true vertical model where everybody’s in it together.”

His work within special education is particularly sentimental.

“I happen to be the father of a son with a developmental disability, and so it’s close to my heart as an individual,” said Shannon. “As a professional, it is critical that we are making sure that all of our students are receiving the best. That’s what we talk about: our students deserve the best. All means all. I’m proud of our organization and the work in our special education division, because it’s so unique, it’s so important.

“It’s certainly demanding, because in that spectrum of student population and families that we’re serving and supporting, there’s a lot of individualized needs, obviously. It’s our responsibility to make sure to the best of our ability that we are cognizant of that, and that we are doing everything within our scope of possibility to ensure that each of those students is getting what he or she needs so that they can be successful at whatever it is we’ve determined they are capable of being successful at. Special education covers a wide swath of opportunities as well as expectations.”

On the DFEO, Shannon said that “it has been amazing to be a part of that from the ground up.”

“When we were starting, we were working on our enrichment programs and trying to bring those opportunities in for our students and our families, and there was a lot of success that the foundation had very early on due to the commitment of those who were building it,” said Shannon. “As we’ve evolved, that work continues in the foundation, but I have also become extremely intertwined in their work in partnership with our district in relation to our Expanded Learning Opportunities Program, or ELOP as we talk about, and that is that arm of the foundation that serves the enrichment for our students across our district from elementary through middle school.

“For after school enrichment, we’re currently serving roughly a little over 2,000 students as we sit here today, and I’m very proud to have played a role in that leadership and strategic work with their executive director and the others that support that organization.”

Shannon realized his passion for education later on, pursuing his credentialling after working five years in sales and marketing. He earned his teaching credential from National University, and a masters degree in education administration from Long Beach State. He received his doctorate from USC. Prior to entering education, he had earned a bachelors in marketing from Cal State Long Beach.

He spent 19 years in neighboring Norwalk La Mirada School District, teaching seventh and eighth graders before ultimately moving upwards to be a vice principal and, ultimately, principal. He then promoted again, spending 10 years in human resources.

He joined Downey in his current position just over eight years ago in 2016.

As hard as he works, Shannon does allow himself some down time, saying that “when students and teachers and principals are gone, I try to go also.”

He goes home to a wife of nearly 34 years. The couple has two boys, ages 26 and 24, with other family located not far away. In his down time, you might find Shannon laboring over a barbeque.

“My favorite thing to do is I love to have people over and have a barbeque, put some music on,” said Shannon. “A nice day, and just laugh and enjoy some good food.

“It is truly one of my favorite places to be, is with people I love, barbecuing with some music, telling some stories, laughing, and just enjoying an easy, comfortable time together.”

Shannon admits that thoughts of retirement have started to seep into his mind, and he will take some leisurely “me time.”

Still, he figures he won’t stay down for too long.

“Ultimately, I will certainly take some time off when that time comes,” said Shannon. “I’m going to enjoy some time off for sure, and hang out with my wife and do the things we wanna do together, whether it’s take a walk on the beach because we can, whether it’s go to lunch on a Tuesday because we can, whether it’s just to hang out. I’m excited about having that opportunity to do so because I’ve been pushing hard for a minute, and I’ve been blessed to be able to do so.

“I will take that time to enjoy some – for lack of a better term – a little bit of freedom. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see myself knocking on the door of whether it be a Cal State Long Beach or a Long Beach City; maybe I can get in and teach a class eventually. I can see myself wanting to do something like that. I would love to be able to have the opportunity to maybe return here occasionally if there was a principal I could possibly do some leadership work with in some way. Knowing me, I probably won’t sit for too long.”