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When principals in the , immediately send feedback to the teachers they鈥檝e just observed, that鈥檚 because of Mark Breen.
When the district is easily able to reward teachers with extra cash or a voucher for a gardening club or other extracurricular activity they鈥檝e started, that鈥檚 also largely thanks to Breen.

And when the district got principals and teachers to agree on a new systemwide portal to help teachers share student progress with parents in an easily digestible way, that was also Breen鈥檚 doing.

Breen, the technology director for the more than 12,000-student school district and a former band director, is often behind the scenes doing the out-of-sight but crucial tasks that make educators鈥� jobs easier and help principals and teachers better serve students.

He鈥檚 part of a breed of school district leaders who are rarely in the spotlight, but without whom district operations would at best be chaotic鈥攁nd at worst screech to a halt.

鈥淗e never makes you feel like you鈥檙e imposing on his day,鈥� said Brian Turner, the technology site coordinator for Sycamore Elementary School and Corona Foothills Middle School. 鈥淗e鈥檚 always willing to ride to the rescue.鈥�

Breen鈥檚 strength lies in bringing together different groups of people to revamp under-the-hood district processes, making them more digital and user-friendly, and less time-consuming and unwieldy.

In all of those efforts, he鈥檚 worked to understand his colleagues鈥� jobs and has asked for their input鈥攁 refreshing approach given that educators often lament that they aren鈥檛 always consulted when big initiatives are rolled out by the central office.

鈥淲e really want their feedback because a lot of times we don鈥檛 know exactly how they鈥檙e doing things,鈥� Breen said.

Calvin Baker, the superintendent, thinks one reason Breen excels at getting employees from disparate parts of the system to work together is because of his background as a band leader.

鈥淵ou think about the mental image of a conductor standing in front of an orchestra, with so many very different instruments all playing different parts,鈥� Baker said. 鈥淵et when it comes together under the direction of the person waving the baton, it makes a beautiful sound.鈥�

That鈥檚 what Breen does for Vail鈥檚 technology, he said.

Breen, who taught band for seven years before becoming the district鈥檚 technology director, said his musical roots have helped him in his new job.

鈥淗opefully, that brings a unique part to my role, just having a passion for creative projects,鈥� he said.

In a way, it was music that led Breen, 40, to technology. About 20 years ago, he started dabbling in music recording, which sparked an interest in technology and reignited his childhood love of computers. He started teaching computer music classes on the side.

When he went to work for Vail in 2009, the district was only looking for a half-time band director, so Breen added computer classes to fill the rest of his schedule.

鈥淚 re-fell in love with technology and some of the instruction around it,鈥� he said. He was floored to see how technology was 鈥渁ffecting what everyone did鈥攆rom custodians, to superintendents, to school bus drivers, to teachers,鈥� he said. And there were boundless opportunities for instruction in the digital age. He became technology leader for Rincon Vista Middle School, then worked his way up to his current position, where he helps oversee technology for the entire district.

As the school system鈥檚 technology chief, Breen鈥檚 overhauled everything from the district鈥檚 teacher evaluation to its financial and human resources systems.

When the state of Arizona changed its teacher-evaluation requirements in 2013, Vail used it as an opportunity to ditch its arduous, paper-heavy system for recording teacher-performance reviews.

Breen knew that to get the job done right, he had to work with those who would be affected by the changes. He sat down with principals and district leaders to find out what they hated about the old system and what they鈥檇 like to see in the new one, before working with a developer to design the revamped digitized system.

鈥淕etting into the weeds of how those processes work鈥攖hat鈥檚 kind of the only way to figure out how to make it better,鈥� Breen said. 鈥淚t was just good to get shoulder to shoulder with that team and see how they are doing things and just bring a different perspective in.鈥�

The new system saves principals time and allows teachers to get feedback on their principal鈥檚 observations right away.

Sarah Bates, the principal of Cottonwood Elementary School, used to spend hours duplicating and filling out Excel spreadsheets under the old, 鈥渃umbersome鈥� evaluation system, she said.

Now, she records walkthroughs with teachers, with easy to fill-out categories like classroom management, student engagement, and instruction. She takes notes when observing lessons and can immediately email them to teachers.

鈥淥ur teachers teach hundreds of lessons, and if you don鈥檛 give them their feedback within a day or two, it鈥檚 irrelevant,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 incredible. It actually increases my time in the classroom. It helps me to be a better instructional leader, be a better instructional model on my campus. I have more time for that because I鈥檓 more their coach instead of their record keeper.鈥�

Breen and his team continue to refine the system鈥攌nown in the district as 鈥渢he hub鈥濃�攂ased on principal and teacher feedback.

Breen pulled off something similar with the district鈥檚 complicated system for approving 鈥渆ducational enrichment plans,鈥� a network of some 500 clubs, afterschool activities, and other extra-curricular activities.

As part of the program, which has been a signature part of the Vail district for decades, teachers can pitch an activity鈥攆rom robotics, to gardening, to a running club鈥攁nd receive extra money to run it. Some Vail educators can earn up to $10,000 annually, plus other incentives. But the process for approving the teachers鈥� pitches鈥攁nd figuring out just how much of a boost or voucher individual teachers should get for running their clubs鈥攚as overwhelming, given the program鈥檚 growth.

Breen met with teachers, district leaders, and principals who participated and, with their feedback, created an easy, digitized version that even allows teachers to approve, reject, or appeal the amount of money district leaders earmark for their bonuses. The new digital system saved those who approved the pitches from combing through 鈥渟tacks and stacks of paper鈥� and staying up past midnight to get it done.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e not bringing people in throughout the process, there鈥檚 no buy-in for them,鈥� Breen said. 鈥淲e want it to feel like something that they also own.鈥�

Breen also used his skill in convening different groups to tackle another district challenge: the learning management system, an online portal that serves as a classroom tool and helps teachers share student progress with their parents.

Schools and teachers were using different interactive online systems for sharing grades, assignments, and other information, which was confusing for parents who had children in different schools or in different grades.

Before bidding on a new system, Breen gave teachers and principals a chance to test drive different programs and weigh in. 鈥淭hat has been extremely beneficial to our parents and students, and I don鈥檛 know anybody else who could have pulled it off,鈥� Baker said.

In addition to overseeing big technology projects, Breen is the go-to trouble-shooter for the district鈥檚 30-odd site technology coordinators, who provide in-house IT services for individual schools.

Breen is also working on integrating computer science education into courses across the district. He meets monthly with the 鈥渃omputational thinking team鈥� to spread that type of analysis to other academic areas. The group focuses on computer science, robotics, makerspaces, and technology with an eye towards ensuring that teachers are incorporating those concepts in their classrooms and getting the professional development to do so.

The idea is to get more students to try out computer science courses, not just the 鈥渟ixteen boys鈥� who already knew they were good at math, he said.

He鈥檚 involved in CSforAZ, a nonprofit group dedicated to bolstering computer science education in the state, and he serves on the executive board of the Arizona Technology in Education Association, the state affiliate of the International Society for Technology in Education, a nonprofit that serves technology educators around the globe.

Breen keeps a foot in the music world. He helps with the Vail Youth Symphony, a nonprofit, after-school program for students who want to showcase their musical talent. He and his wife, Jessica, a music teacher in the district, started the symphony in 2014. Breen, who plays the drums, and loves to go hiking, camping, and hunting, isn鈥檛 your stereotypical techie, his colleagues say.

鈥淭he fact is that he is, at his core, a teacher. That teacher perspective is priceless because he knows what it鈥檚 like to be in the classroom,鈥� Baker said. He knows how to present material in a way that teachers can easily grasp. 鈥淗e [can] talk to them as a teacher, not as the tech guy.鈥�