Kelley Perry makes education more than a career

Sometimes, the ding of an email notification heralds a major opportunity, one that might transform our lives for the better. For Kelley Perry (MAEd/ADM, 2016), the email that changed her life arrived while she was working in Phoenix’s Madison Elementary School District.

Perry is a third-generation Arizona educator; teaching is in her blood. So, when she opened the email that invited her to apply for a scholarship, she took it as a sign to enroll in the Master of Arts in Education/Supervision and Administration program at University of Phoenix.

That would be Perry’s second master’s degree. She’d earned her first, which focused on curriculum, assessment and instruction, from a different university. Yet the pull to learn more and to grow professionally was irresistible.

Not long after, a new position as a teacher on assignment for administration opened up. Perry went for it, and while she is quick to credit luck and timing, she is also a lifelong learner whose commitment to education has become a lifestyle more than a career.

Perry was a working single mom to two teenagers when she began her master’s program at University of Phoenix. One son was in college; the other had a demanding schedule of athletic commitments. “Trying to keep up with his travel schedule and games and things like that [while] working as an administrator, it was a very busy time,” Perry says.

Perry was somewhat used to it. Educators, she says, often work with what she calls a “beyond the clock” mindset. “People don't understand how much goes into just planning for that experience with the kids in the classroom,” she says. Lesson planning, collaborative planning groups, meetings and more — it’s all part and parcel of being a teacher.

Fortunately, University of Phoenix’s online coursework allowed Perry to keep her days “protected,” as she describes it, and allowed her to balance parenting, education and her career at once. This was important, since she was entering that leadership role as a teacher on assignment with the Scottsdale Unified School District. Perry began acting as an administrator who managed both discipline and systems within the school. The lessons she was studying at UOPX became almost immediately applicable.

“The classes were very relevant to me in my work life because I was able to apply concepts that I was learning through University of Phoenix in my day-to-day [role],” Perry says.

Fellow principal Priscilla Gossett recognizes how Perry’s commitment to education and growth made her more effective in her career. “When a teacher-on-assignment position in administration became available, Kelley was a natural choice,” Gossett says.

As Gossett describes working alongside Perry, it’s obvious how much Perry brings to her career — not just because of her skills, but also because of her passion. “As a member of the leadership team, Kelley embodies our commitment to lifelong learning and collaboration,” Gossett says. “She lives the mantra, ‘None of us is as smart as all of us,’ and her reflective approach consistently strengthens our collective capacity as a team. Together, we worked to develop each member’s skills, knowing that as our team grew stronger, so too did our students’ achievements.”

That is a powerful endorsement of Perry as a leader and a human being. Yet, as Gossett points out, there are tangible and positive consequences to having Perry serve in her current capacity as principal within the Scottsdale Unified School District: “While students may not directly recognize how Kelley’s education influences the school environment, they undoubtedly feel her dedication,” Gossett says.

Perry’s dedication takes many forms. One of them is the way she seeks to bring what she’s learned and apply it in ways that directly benefit her students. For example, Perry points to the way University of Phoenix’s curriculum provided clear guidance and principles she could follow while completing course requirements. Today, she works to bring the same clarity to her own students. “We want instruction to be straightforward,” she says. “Kids need to know what they need to accomplish. And the University of Phoenix parallels that, where it’s very straightforward on what you need to do to complete the course and how the grading is laid out.”

While Perry is undoubtedly proud of her work for her students, she is particularly grateful that her dedication to education has also served her sons. They have seen her continuously make education more than a career. It is a cornerstone of how she lives her life and sees the world.

“It was a natural thing for them to see me working at night, working on the weekends,” she says of their perspective when she went back to school. “Education is important in our family. My father was an educator. My grandfather was an educator. I really wanted to carry on that family legacy of excellence in education.”

Now, when Perry goes to work, she carries that lesson to the students she serves. “I’m proud that I was able to accomplish the goal I set out to do, and I know that my family is proud of me,” she says. “The gratification and knowing that I’m helping make education better for those in my community is why I do it.”

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