Following a district administrative restructuring that replaced deans with assistant principals, Verneisha Gair is the new assistant principal for the class of 2027.
Gair’s values were shaped in part by her upbringing in rural Southern Louisiana, where her experiences inspired her to bring access to education to students from diverse backgrounds.
“Growing up, I understood that education was a driver of access. Access to high-quality education can really change the trajectory of people’s lives. My grandparents really inspired me to go into education, coming from the rural south of Louisiana and during the Great Migration. I learned what education can do. I have a very different life experience than my grandparents had at my age and so my goal is looking at how we reach every single student and let them know what is possible and help them reach their potential,” Gair said.
Gair’s values shaped where she chose to continue her career; Gair’s commitment to equity and access is what drew her to Niles West in the first place.
“The first thing that really stood out to me was the diversity of the student body. For me, one of my core values is equity, access and valuing diversity and all different experiences and perspectives. I was also very interested in the work that the school district and the school has been doing as it relates to equity and access, thinking about having students from all over and giving them access to rigorous college-level courses and access to AP classes,” Gair said.
Gair’s favorite part of her job is interacting with students.
“My favorite thing about this job is the students. I really love getting to know them and I’ve never worked in such a diverse atmosphere with families from all over the world, and different perspectives, and learning and connecting with them. I think as a professional, we have our ideas based in research about what’s best, but hearing from students what drives them is super exciting for me,” Gair said.
Gair’s attention to student voices stood out to senior Victoria HooSang, a member of Gair’s student hiring panel. HooSang, along with other students, asked assistant principal candidates questions to learn more about their values and goals.
“When she answered the question, ‘How do you think we can incorporate student voices into our policies?’ her answer was a lot different than the other interviewees. She said, instead of just an open-door policy, going out into the community and asking people who might not already have found their voice about what their opinions are is the best way to get the overall consensus of what people think. I thought that was interesting because while we do have the Associated Student Body this year and we have students that already speak up a lot, we’re not representative of the whole student population,” HooSang said.
Gair’s colleague, assistant principal for the class of 2026, David Hawk, highlights her skills and efforts to connect with the student body.
“Dr. Gair is wonderful; she’s brought a lot of experience, especially with problem-solving for students. She has a lot of experience in teacher evaluation and she’s just a team player. She’s trying to learn about Niles West, our students here and all the great things that they have to offer. She’s been visible in the hallways, the cafeteria [and] trying to immerse herself in our community, which is something I really value about her,” Hawk said.
