FARGO (KFGO) – It did not take long for Fargo Public Schools’ first-ever Director of Educational Justice to feel at home in North Dakota.
Tristan Love joined the district last week. He hails from Houston, Texas where he was born and raised. He was a two-time teacher of the year there, a department chair, and a school administrator. Most recently Love was working with school districts all over the country to implement social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum.
On Love’s first day with FPS his 9-year-old son asked if he could tag along. Love’s schedule that day included an hour-long talk in front of hundreds of educators at a conference at Davies High School. Love said he received a warm welcome, but it was the way his son was treated by those in attendance that made the greatest impression.
“To come to a place where we’re not familiar, to speak about the power of healthy belonging, and to then watch people wrap their arms of support around my son – I was sold. I saw my son smile and you could just see his shoulders relax. For us to be in a room full of educators that didn’t look like us but to feel like we’ve known these people for years…those are the places you want to be a part of,” Love said.
Love said there were a number of factors that drew him to apply for the role at FPS, including the opportunity to focus his efforts on a single district after having been on the road a lot and working with many districts in his previous job. But, he said the real hook was knowing and having previously worked with Fargo Superintendent Dr. Rupak Gandhi, who also started his educational career in Houston.
“I wanted to be able to just pour my energy into one place,” Love said. “But it really came down to leadership. Knowing Dr. Gandhi, when the position came available I wanted to toss my name in the hat right away because I knew if he was leading the district that created this position, they’re serious about it.”
Love said his subsequent interviews and interactions with others in the district affirmed that commitment.
“We just have a lot of good people that are highly invested in the success of the school district. And they want to do right by kids – all kids. And after I saw that, I knew it was a place I wanted to be,” Love said.
He said he thinks FPS is already doing many of the things it needs to do to achieve and sustain educational justice in the schools, but there are areas that could be fine-tuned, such as taking a more systematic approach to some matters and tracking data more effectively.
In Houston, Love implemented a credit recovery program for kids who were having a tough time completing their coursework in order to graduate.
“We were about were able to create something that did a good job of making sure kids had a chance to walk across that stage,” he said. “It’s just little things like that – thinking about attendance: how we can support kids and parents and community members to get kids to school? That’s about relationship building and really understanding the perspective and the barriers that persist and are inhibiting kids from coming to campus. I think Fargo has the right pieces in the right places, but hopefully I can also bring some of my experience with other districts that might be doing things differently.”
Love said he really looks forward to highlighting the work FPS is doing.
“I’ve already had a lot of people say ‘Educational justice? Why is Fargo going that route?’ But it’s so innovative and forward-thinking. Hopefully other districts and state agencies can start to see Fargo as a model,” he said.
Love, who has relocated to the Fargo area with his wife and three young children, says he hopes to take the summer to better get to know the community.
“Before I try to give any advice or make improvements, I want to make sure that I’m approaching this role from a place of understanding,” he said.
Asked if he has any trepidation about his transition to Fargo, the man from Houston had a one-word answer: winter.
“I was talking to somebody and they said, yeah, no visible skin. I was like, what do I do about my eyeballs?” he laughed.
Love said any real worries he had about coming to Fargo vanished as soon as he arrived.
“Being from my background, being a minority, being black, and coming to a district where there’s not a lot of black and brown representation, at first I had some imposter syndrome: do I deserve this position in this district?” Love said. “But after the conversations I’ve had, looking at the strategic plan…I’ve worked in some really tough districts and some very tough schools and there are worrisome things that typically come up in those places, but a lot of the hard work has been done here already. Once I learn the lay of the land, my job is to help take it to the next level.”
Love says during his first week at FPS he’s been getting a lot of historical context and knowledge passed onto him by outgoing Director of Equity and Inclusion Tamara Uselman, who he describes as “phenomenal.” Uselman announced that she was stepping down in March.
