One-on-one with high school assistant principal Valerie Whitchurch

In a city that’s growing as fast and furiously as Maricopa is, those in positions of authority often are expected to wear many hats throughout the work day in order to get things done.

That is especially true in the city’s public school system. Valerie Whitchurch, for example, one of Maricopa High School’s new vice-principals this year, has only been in the assistant’s seat for almost two months, but she dons several ‘hats’ each day. Besides being in charge of multiple administrative duties, she also teaches and leads the school’s 43-member concert band.

Maricopa High School Assistant Principal Valerie Whitchurch.

Though Whitchurch was born in Las Vegas, she grew up in the city of Chicago with her extremely musically conscious family. Her father was a serviceman, the choir director at their church and played the sax. Her grandfather, a piano player at various Chicago bars, made music a permanent staple in their home.

“I got into music because my grandmother and I used to sit on the couch and listen to my grandfather play,” Whitchurch says. “He couldn’t read music, but he could play like anybody you ever heard. After a while, seeing my piano teacher, who was also the choir director at church and played the organ, it was just something I knew I wanted to do.”

At seven, she was taking piano lessons. When she was 14, she got a snare drum for Christmas. “Luckily we had a basement growing up, so we went to the basement and practiced,” she jokes.

In her teen years in Arizona she played in various amateur high school bands as a keyboardist and was teaching piano at age 17. But her love of music took a backseat at first when Whitchurch started college at ASU in the early 1990s. Her first declared major was in business before she started taking her 20 hours of music classes, which, she says, “just felt so natural.”

“It took me a while to find my way, but I knew I wanted to do it,” Whitchurch explained. “It just took me a while to get there.”

After getting her Masters degree from the University of Phoenix in 1999, she taught music at schools in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Tucson before taking a detour into the business world for two years. Her experience there she describes as “eye-opening.”

“I had an opportunity to run education from the business side working for Guitar Center. I learned a lot from getting out of education and seeing things from the other side. You learn a lot more about customer service. You learn a lot more about how the real world works. I think education is unique, and you can get kind of stuck in a rut and forget that there’s a bigger world out there. It’s helped me a lot being in the position I’m in now in Maricopa because I understand how expense reports work and how to take care of the parents as customers when they come in, rather than just being a teacher.”

One of her biggest musical passions is jazz, which, she says, “just has style.” She’s even had the chance to study in New Orleans and learn all about jazz’s American roots. But when she’s not teaching music or organizing loathed paperwork in the school’s main office, Whitchurch turns her passions over to the outdoors. She loves to water ski and mountain bike, for starters, and finds any excuse to take her three miniature Italian greyhounds for walks. Last year she moved from Chandler and bought a house in Maricopa – and found a lot to like in the fledgling city.

“I like the part of really getting to know my neighbor. When I came looking at houses, getting to know people here was extremely easy. My neighborhood’s become kind of I don’t want to say a family, but we watch out for each other. It’s kind of the same thing here at school. It’s got some incredible teachers that you form some terrific bonds with them. It’s just nice to meet down-to-earth, real people.”

“I also look forward to working with my kids. And I couldn’t ask for a greater group of kids. They are so amazing. For me, that’s the bonus of my day.”