School leaders explored strategies for increasing belonging in schools at the 2026 ACSA Leadership Summit.

A sold-out crowd of more than 700 administrators arrived at the Gaylord Pacific Resort in Chula Vista and knew that they were in the right place — whether they were principals or superintendents, classified or certificated, or leaders from charter or adult schools.

During her opening remarks, ACSA President Dr. Rene Rickard invoked this year’s theme, “You Belong Here,” and asked each of the 225 first-time attendees to Leadership Summit to stand and be recognized.

“There is always someone who is new in the room. Someone who is finding their way. Someone who is looking around the room and wondering ... where do I fit in?” Rickard said. “I’ve come to believe that one of the most important things we can do as ACSA is to make sure that people do not have to wonder for very long.”

This year’s theme also resonated for Summit Planning Committee Chair Dr. Jacqueline Duncan, principal of Encinita Elementary School in the Rosemead School District.

An immigrant who grew up in Hong Kong and came to the U.S. in fourth grade without her parents, Duncan said she remembers questioning whether she mattered.

By high school, Duncan said she had embraced a “rebellious, evil persona — complete with a mohawk.”

“Underneath that hairstyle and attitude was just a kid trying to figure out where she belonged,” she said.

Duncan said she saw a lot of herself in the students who were honored during Thursday’s Every Student Succeeding ceremony — 21 students who overcame hardships with the help of the educators in their lives.

“Their stories reminded me that sometimes all it takes is that one person or one opportunity to change the course of someone’s life,” Duncan said.

Aspiring leaders welcomed New this year, ACSA held a preconference on Wednesday for aspiring leaders called “You Belong in Leadership.” During a day of workshops, panels and networking, around 60 future leaders heard stories from current administrators on pathways to school leadership.

During one session, co-presenters Dr. Sandra Quintanilla and Dr. Piedad Sanchez advised attendees on the realities of site leadership and that just because you’re the boss, it doesn’t mean you’ll be listened to.

“I can’t roll my eyes — I have to take it seriously,” Quintanilla said of some of the problems principals are required to solve. “It’s not just one issue occurring — sometimes it’s three or five things occurring.”

Aspiring leaders also submitted their résumés for critiques, attended discussions on pathways to leadership, and heard an overview of how ACSA supports school leaders at every stage of their career.

When third-grade teacher Kelsey Brannon walked into the You Belong in Leadership preconference, she wasn’t sure she was ready for leadership.

Now she knows.

“When I arrived I was a little bit intimidated because I was like, ‘I don’t know if I belong in this room,’” she said. “But after hearing everybody ... I think that I am more qualified than I give myself credit for. I think this could be a path forward.”

Start knocking Thursday morning’s opening keynote Dr. Jacqueline Sanderlin burst out onto the stage, imploring the audience to get on their feet and dance. Sanderlin waded through the crowd of dancing school leaders to the song “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now.”

A former principal in the Compton and Inglewood school districts, Sanderlin spoke about her experience developing more than 300 partnerships with groups including The Food Network, Wal-Mart, and the Grammys and celebrities like Samuel L. Jackson and Ellen DeGeneres. These partnerships gave her scholars experiences they deserved to have — but they didn’t happen without Sanderlin’s effort.

“This is the reason why I don’t believe in opportunities. I believe in possibilities,” Sanderlin said. “Because opportunities are what we find, but possibilities are what we create.”

She urged attendees to be visible in their communities and start knocking on doors.

“You know what happens if you keep knocking?” Sanderlin asked. “After awhile somebody will say ... what do you want?”

Athenas of Happiness In the popular session “Athenas of Happiness,” attendees heard women leaders sharing their stories of strength. Named for the Greek goddess Athena, symbol of wisdom and courage, attendees were handed a gold laurel crown when they entered the room.

Presenters Dr. Erin Simon, Dr. Marilyn Lopez, Dr. Renae Bryant, Dr. Rosa Coronado, and Dr. Patricia Brent-Sanco shared their experiences with resilience, courage, growth and joy.

Lopez faced poverty and hunger growing up, but at school, she was the “perfect” student — the one who was smiling. It took a caring educator who saw past the smile and asked why she was always late to school in the morning to truly see her struggles.

It’s part of why today she as assistant superintendent in Central USD, Lopez works with community organizations to help families pay for bills and access services so students can have more stability.

“Our students — all they need to hear is that you care, and that you want to get to know them,” Lopez said. “If you notice patterns, ask them why.”

Attendee Kyla Sinegal, board member with San Lorenzo USD, said Athenas was an uplifting experience and a reminder of why leaders need to share their stories.

“Sometimes people are afraid and ashamed and tell their story, but you have to tell your story because it empowers and inspires that someone else who is going through that journey that you’ve already been through,” she said.

When we see successful leaders, Sinegal said we may not always see the challenges they had to overcome. Now, she said she’s seeing the presenters in a new light.

“Now I’m seeing who they truly are, and it makes me see why they fight so hard for our kiddos and their students — because they were once that kiddo,” Sinegal said.

America is halo-halo Friday’s keynote speaker Jose Antonio Vargas talked about belonging from the perspective of an undocumented immigrant. Born in the Philippines and sent to California to live with his grandparents when he was a child, Vargas found out when he was 16 and attempted to get his driver’s license that “You’re not supposed to be here.”

Vargas shared information about the undocumented experience in America and his belief that our country isn’t a melting pot so much as it is halo-halo, the Filipino dessert where many distinct flavors “all depend on each other.”

“Being undocumented is not an identity, it’s a condition — politically, historically, culturally,” he said. “And all across the country, school administrations are on the front line ... determining the condition of belonging. Who gets to belong?”

Educational engineers To close the conference Saturday, Dr. Luis Cruz spoke about context and content. Context refers to the forces like politics, AI and economics that shape our experiences in schools. For content, he described the things school leaders must bring to schools: a world-class education, equitable systems, and leadership.

When discussing content, Cruz posted ACSA’s vision statement on the screen and zeroed in on the word “equitable” — which he says has become a bad word in some corners of our country.

“I can’t mention ‘equity’ in some places because it becomes political, so instead I say, ‘Can we at least agree that regardless of the conditions our students face, we got them?’”

Cruz told administrators they should have a new role they embody that describes their commitment to redesigning a system that can help break children out the cycle of poverty.

“[We’re] educational engineers,” he said.

A seat at the table An administrator for 18 years, Dr. Pauline Garcia was attending her first Leadership Summit this year. She and a group of other first-time attendees from Perris Union HSD said the workshops provided plenty of new ideas to implement at their district.

“But I think the biggest takeaway for me was just making sure that, just like I want a seat at the table, I need to make sure that I continue to have a seat ready [for] those who need to be at the table,” she said. “Because everyone has a voice, and everyone’s voice deserves to be heard.”

Here are some other voices heard at this year’s Leadership Summit.

“Just you saying hello may change somebody’s day.” In “From Invisible to Empowered: Rebuilding Belonging for Disconnected Learners,” presenter Tiffany Donahue shared strategies for making sure students feel seen, which is especially important for adult school students, who may have experienced challenges that pushed or pulled them out of the education system. “They have baggage and they want to tell you what it is,” Donahue said. “I always tell them, ‘The hardest part that you did today was you walked in the door.’”

“They had established a mindset of ‘people work for us’ not ‘we work for people.’” In the session “Open the Backpack: Building Belonging Through Vulnerable Leadership,” Heber ESD Superintendent Juan Cruz and Senior Director Jeanette Montano shared the difficult work that transformed the culture at the district. With a focus on self-awareness, vulnerability, and authentic connection, the district invested in trainings and created space for trust circles where staff could heal past harms and restore a positive workplace culture. “We tell people to have a hard conversations, but we don’t tell them how,” Montano said. “They need the how, so these tools were given to them.”

“What if we just started calling the teachers in the room just ‘teachers’?” In her session “Inclusion Does Not Create Problems, It Exposes the Problems,” special education teacher Natalie Rickard advocated for schools to stop using the labels “teacher” and “co-teacher” in an inclusive classroom because it unknowingly creates a hierarchy. They are either both teachers or both co-teachers, she said. “Administrative language does shape this reality and staff language also influences family perspective,” she said.

“I absolutely did not see myself as a leader.” Women’s Breakfast keynote speaker Dr. Candy Singh shared a picture of herself from 5th grade and the struggles her family faced with homelessness. Singh said research shows that women’s beliefs about leadership take shape in childhood. Singh credited her mother and her 5th grade teacher, Mr. Flanders, with helping her see the leadership potential she had. “If you had known me when this photo was taken, you never would have imagined that I would be standing here talking to you.”

“I’d love to be a teacher but I have to pay my rent.” In the session “Fostering Belonging: Pathways that Recruit, Support and Retain Early-Career Educators,” presenters Dr. Erin Roberts (Oakley Union ESD) and Dr. Joy Springer (Ventura COE) shared strategies that increase belonging for new teachers, which is a key driver of retention. They presented on the residency model, which removes barriers such as cost for new teachers. Residency also results in 80 percent of teachers staying until the five-year mark. They had attendees stand along a spectrum, from recruitment, preparation, residency, induction and retention and share strategies they are using to enhance that in their district.

“How did you get this job?” Equity Luncheon keynote speaker Dr. Julie Vitale shared her feelings of being unwelcome in a previous district as a gay female principal. After an anonymous letter “outed” her to her superintendent, she felt the shame and internal homophobia that she had been carrying her whole life. “Everything that I was trying to hide was right there,” she said. “What happened was a series of events where I knew I was no longer welcome in that system.”