JAMAL ADAMS BRINGS POSITIVE COACHING MENTALITY TO PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE By: Carolyn Neuhausen ’04 The 2020-2021 school year will forever be remembered as the year the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to close and students and teachers had to shift to remote learning. In a year where it felt like the hits kept coming, a bit of good news was just what the Lasallian community needed. This past summer, the community received news La Salle College Preparatory was hiring Jamal Adams as its new principal. A native of Los Angeles, Adams grew up on the west side and attended Loyola High School and played basketball. After high school, Adams studied at Columbia University in New York City. While in college Adams says, “I learned to grow my capacity to work hard, to see the power of belonging to something bigger than myself, and the beauty of building relationships with people who come from a variety of backgrounds, interesting perspectives, and have a different lived experience than myself.”
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Adams missed basketball and decided to take an assistant coaching job at his Alma Mater, Loyola, while he was working full-time at UBS. Then tragedy struck. Adams’ brother, who he describes as his best friend, was diagnosed with brain cancer at 26 and passed away at 31. It was this devastating loss that caused Adams to reevaluate his path. “My brother’s battle with cancer helped me realize I wanted to live a purposedriven life. So I chose to walk away from finance and become a teacher at Loyola which felt more in-line with my passion.” Adams spent 16 years at Loyola as a Director of Faculty, Director of Equity and Inclusion, basketball coach and taught Economics and African American history. His move from Loyola to La Salle comes at a challenging time for the School and the community. He notes that in addition to settling into a new role, keeping the community engaged in normal high school activities while also keeping everyone safe is a constant in his mind.
After graduating from college, he briefly considered playing professional basketball abroad, but instead began working at Merrill Lynch as a stock broker and finance professional. While he enjoyed his job, he felt there was more he could be doing for his community, “I was doing well financially but had a hollow feeling and felt I could be making more of a difference in the world.”
What Adams loves most about working in education is seeing how kids grow and change in their high school years, as they transition between childhood and adulthood. “I’m thrilled to be a part of the ‘ah-ha’ moments, that unbelievable sense of when someone gets something and lights up,” he says.
Adams’ career brought him back to California where he began working at UBS. Around this time, he married his high school sweetheart, Pamela and they had daughter Jaylen (25) and son Jared (24). Adams and Pamela have been married for 26 years.
As a first year Principal at a new school, Adams is leaning on the advice of the Principal’s Council, Lasallian traditions and his own observations running the School’s day to day business. “I think it’s instructive to not be prescriptive this year, but to learn and watch and observe. Where I can offer
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