Principal Tracey Makings

Mrs. Tracey Makings has been at Hoover for the past nine months, commencing her journey in January of this year. Her career path has been an outstanding combination of educator and leadership, spanning 23 years of teaching before her current role.

Principal Makings taught English, algebra, and physics which gave her an experience in finding her passion for education. What truly brings a bond between Hoover and Principal Makings is her early familiarity with the community growing up here with her dad and stepmom and having work experience here which brings her understanding and love for the community. The warm, friendly, and inviting spirit of the people at Hoover draws her closer to the students and the school population.

One of Principal Making’s challenges is assisting students to grasp that life changes as they grow and mature, but it’ll get better. She recognizes that students usually live in the here and now, but the transition from childhood to adulthood is huge! Getting students to recognize the change is difficult, but she approaches the difficult task with dedication and care. Her challenges can never compare to the joy she receives when engaging with students in cheerful conversations and serious matters. Her students’ voices are what matters. She loves meeting students, hearing their anecdotes, and forming connections.

Her mission is for Hoover to be recognized as the amazing place it truly is, with everyone in the community describing it that way. Looking forward, Principal Makings envisions Hoover growing in multiple and exciting ways such as new classes with students’ interests, celebrating wins in sports divisions, and ensuring students have an enjoyable experience throughout their academic journey to prove school is fun.

Principal Makings continuously aims to be full of humor, be real by never sugarcoating, and be hardworking by dedicating all her time to the Hoover campus. Her favorite quote, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” by Michael Jordan, captures the encouragement she desires her students embrace fearlessly in challenges. As Principal Makings embarks on this journey at Hoover, she is filled with excitement about her plans and keeps her door open, inviting students to stop by and get to know her better. With her dedication and spirit, she’s ready to make this year at Hoover special!

Mr. Charles De Freitas ~ Associate Principal

Mr. Charles De Freitas has been working at Herbert Hoover High School for a year and 3 months. His purpose here at Hoover is to provide a safe learning environment, but also to work with teachers and improve instructional practices. When he was in school, he was bullied by other students and even teachers. One teacher in particular made fun of him in front of class and that stuck with him. He knew from that day he wanted to become a better person than that teacher and wanted to make sure he had the ability to make a difference so that no other kid would have to go through something like that. Mr. De Freitas wanted to help out students who don’t have the privileges he had growing up and wants to make sure he can support students in any way possible, give them the power and help them thrive in life. What he likes most about Hoover are the students because he believes behind every person there is a different story and ahead of them there is a future they will create. One thing that motivates him to come to work is he wants to see all these students succeed no matter how their success looks because he came from a traditional family where they wanted him to be a doctor but he knows and believes that everyone has a different story and a different way of succeeding.

Mr. Joe Boertmann ~ Associate Principal

Mr. Joe Boertmann is an associate principal here at Hoover High School. He is originally from Los Angeles, he loves video games, and has two dogs that he takes swimming. He had wanted to be a teacher ever since elementary school. He was a band director for fifteen years and then went into administration. His favorite thing about working with students is all the possibilities because every student has endless possibilities. One of his favorite things about Hoover is the diversity and how connected the school is to the community that it serves. But one of his biggest challenges is balancing discipline. His great strength is never giving up and a quote he wanted to leave you with is

¨No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other’s worth.” ~ Robert Southery

Ms. Schultz is out on leave.  We will feature her when she returns.