Find it Fast
Rich Mestas Brings Experience, Passion to Dutch Clark at Paragon
For a man who was a few steps away from entering medical school, Rich Mestas has certainly made his mark in the education field while impacting countless lives.
With a background rich in both traditional and online education, Mr. Mestas was selected to oversee the launch of Dutch Clark Digital Online at Paragon, an alternative education approach that offers students a customized and flexible pathway to a high school diploma.
A product of Pueblo School District 60, Mr. Mestas graduated from South High School before pursuing a degree at Colorado State University Pueblo.
“I felt that the culture I experienced in the different district schools I attended really helped me develop a lot of the work habits that I have now,” Mr. Mestas said.
At CSUP, Mr. Mestas enrolled in the pre-medical program with hopes of one day becoming a medical doctor.
“I was on my way to medical school,” he explained. “As I was coaching at the time, I just had an epiphany: that I really enjoyed working with kids. That’s what my heart was telling me, and that’s how I ended up in education.”
Like all of District 60’s high school principals, Mr. Mestas began his career in the classroom, teaching seventh- and eighth-grade science at Freed Middle School.
“I was there for 8 years,” he explained. “I loved it: I loved the kids, I loved the staff. Freed was good at showcasing the diversity of Pueblo.”
Now with an administrative credential, Mr. Mestas made the move to Risley, where he served as an assistant principal for a year.
“I always felt that I could contribute more, and have more of an impact, through administration,” he said. “I like building things, and I felt I had an opportunity to reach more kids in an administrative capacity.”
Mr. Mestas’ first principalship was at Dolores Huerta Preparatory High School, a D60 charter school. There, he was presented with his first opportunity at building up a fledgling institution.
“When I started, there was about 50 kids,” he said. “And I was tasked with building it up. When I left, I think we were close to 500 kids. It was a great experience at building something new and thinking outside the box a little.”
Once again seeking an opportunity to launch a new venture from the ground up, Mr. Mestas joined the GOAL Academy team. In hindsight, his time with the online school proved to be invaluable once he was called upon to launch and lead Dutch Clark Digital at Paragon.
“I went to GOAL because we wanted to address a need: we knew there were students who were not being successful in a traditional brick and mortar school and needed something different,” Mr. Mestas said. “I was involved in the online model there for 10 years, and I learned a lot.
“GOAL took me all over the state, all over the country. But I always wanted to focus in my community of Pueblo: I always wanted to do something here.”
After a year in an administrative role at IntelliTec College, which further expanded his educational acumen, Mr. Mestas received that long-awaited chance.
“So when I had the opportunity to start an online school in Pueblo, with a focus on Pueblo students, I jumped at it,” he said. “It was an amazing chance to take all the things I learned – growing DHPH, online with GOAL Academy – and apply it to students from Pueblo.”
The passion and enthusiasm Mr. Mestas displays in his role as principal of Dutch Clark Digital is as prominent as the large-scale mural of the school’s namesake that occupies one of the walls of Paragon Learning Center, from which Mr. Mestas and his staff educate students.
“It’s been amazing,” he said. “I love my job, I love being here, I love the staff that we have and I love the students that we have. I really believe that we are a great alternative to traditional brick and mortar schools.”
To serve those students who are likely to thrive in this non-traditional setting, Mr. Mestas said collaboration is essential.
“We collaborate regularly with the administration of our four other high schools,” he explained. “They truly understand our model and what we do, and if they know of kids who may benefit from our program, we have dialogue so that we are giving students the best opportunity to be successful.”
Students also seek out Dutch Clark Digital on their own: young adults who aren’t comfortable in traditional high schools or whose circumstances require a curriculum approach that’s adaptable and allows for a flexible schedule.
“A traditional education system works for lots of kids, but not every kid,” Mr. Mestas said. “Right now, 100 percent of our students meet at least one criteria for being at risk of not graduating. So we really focus on serving those students who have challenges, and turn those challenges into opportunities for success.
“And that’s what we pride ourselves on: we want to think differently so that we can offer that next chance for students.”
It was that thinking beyond the normal constricts that led Dutch Clark Digital to encourage face-to-face visits with teachers, counselors and administrators in what Mr. Mestas terms a “customized learning experience.”
“If students want to be here every day, we want them here every day,” he said. “And we also have those students who want to be fully online, and don’t want to see anyone. From spectrum to spectrum, we’ve created this model that serves all kids.
“What we want to do is meet kids where they are, and create a plan that’s going to be successful because it meets their needs. It’s not about kids conforming to what we do, it’s about us building a learning plan together to help them be successful.”
In Dutch Clark Digital’s first year, the focus was on attendance: namely, encouraging students to academically engage on a regular basis so that the model would have the greatest chance of bearing fruit.
“Last year, the focus was to get as many kids as possible to come in, because we can control the environment for them,” Mr. Mestas said. “And we went from 65 percent attendance to over 90 percent. We now live in the 90 percent of attendance, which is really good for alternative schools.
“And once we felt we were really strong in attendance, this year, we are focusing on ‘connect data:’ how many of our kids are passing classes? Now, we want to make sure that not only are kids attending, they are being successful in the classes they are taking.”
The “online” descriptor aside, Mr. Mestas said the bottom line is that Dutch Clark Digital at Paragon is all about relationships.
“That’s what we do: we build relationships with our students,” he explained. “We know that in order for them to be successful, they have to have trust, and know that they are supported and cared for. What we do here, and what I tell my staff, is that we serve kids. Everything is designed to serve kids, regardless of the situation.
“We create a customized learning experience, and that’s different for every kid. We just have to figure it out by looking at the data and by talking with the kids. The students are part of the plan and they help us figure out what it’s going to look like.”
That end result, a high school diploma, is what Mr. Mestas and his team relentlessly strive for.
“Our graduation is powerful,” he said. “To see kids that were without hope when they came in, and to see the look in their eye when they are walking across the stage, and see the pride in their families, is over the top.
“A lot of students come to us credit deficient, or come to us with a lot of life happening. And sometimes, they feel like this is their last chance. But we chip away and we chip away and never give up. And once those kids catch on to that success, it’s powerful.”