Van Putten is the new principal at Argonaut

By Khalida Sarwari

Karen van Putten, a former Saratoga High School English teacher, has been named the new principal at Argonaut Elementary School. She succeeds Alex Chapman, who resigned in July to accept an assistant principal position at Los Gatos High School. Her first day on the job was Aug. 1.

The appointment marks a return to Saratoga for the 46-year-old, who’s spent the last seven years serving in neighboring communities. She said she was thrilled to return and work with K-5 students, especially after having had Argonaut alumni in her English classes at Saratoga High when she taught there from 2000 to 2007.

“The most exciting thing is working with students at a younger age, where kids are still full of curiosity,” she said. “I want to make sure while we keep our focus on high achievement, that we’re grounded in play and really authentic creating and problem solving.”

Among her immediate goals is to meet the Argonaut community, she said, and to get a feel for the school’s energy and momentum.

“Once I get to know the staff and once I get to know the students and the parents, I think I can help bring to fruition the school board’s vision for innovation,” she said.

Van Putten brings 22 years of experience in public education to the role, during which she served as a classroom teacher for six years in Holland, Mich., and a faculty member at Saratoga High School followed by two years of mentoring and coaching new teachers in curriculum development and student engagement in the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District from 2007 to 2009.

From there, van Putten transitioned into administration as the assistant principal at Fremont High School, where she was responsible for counseling, staff development, state testing, new teacher support and community outreach. She then served for four years as the principal of San Lorenzo Valley High School, where she expanded options for college and career readiness with the adoption of K-12 Common Core standards, Advanced Placement courses and the integration of technology into the classroom, according to the Saratoga Union School District.

Van Putten earned her bachelor’s degree in English and sociology, her secondary teaching credential at Hope College in Michigan and master’s in educational leadership in the Urban High School leadership program at San Jose State University.

Hailed as a collaborative and creative instructional leader who believes that educators’ actions and decisions should be made with students’ best interests in mind, van Putten decided to pursue public education as a career while growing up in her hometown of Chicago. She has been a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts educator scholarship for researching African literature and has traveled to China for East Asian history and educational policy research with the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education.

She lives in the Santa Cruz Mountains with her 11-year-old daughter, Lily, who will be attending the sixth grade at Redwood Middle School. Her hobbies include competitive stand-up paddleboarding and being a swim mom.

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Saratoga: Van Putten is the new principal at Argonaut

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