Video editor Clara Guthrie profiles new Assistant to Dean of Students Victoria Cruikshank. Photo courtesy of Menlo School KnightBook.

By Clara Guthrie

The previous Assistant to Dean of Students Tony Lapolla and Coordinator of Upper School Attendance, Abby Baez, has recently left Menlo, being replaced by previous Menlo employee, Victoria Cruikshank. 

Baez left Menlo when her husband made his own professional transition. “Her husband decided to leave the [California Highway Patrol] and go back to a previous employer,” Assistant to Upper School Director John Schafer and Coordinator of Student Activities Frances Ferrell said, “[Baez] loved working at Menlo and was really sad to go, but sometimes life takes you in other directions.”

Cruikshank has held this exact position before, five years ago, and has worked around Menlo campus since then. “I actually came back as recently as 2014 to help out with [Upper School Commencement],” Cruikshank said.

“In between, I’ve been doing freelance work as a UX Designer,” Cruikshank said about her time away from Menlo. A UX Designer is a user experience designer who works towards increasing user satisfaction during their interaction with a product by enhancing features such as ease and accessibility.

Cruikshank is thrilled to return to Menlo and has been pleased by the overall fluency of her return. “Surprisingly, I have retained much of the information required for the role and there haven’t been too many changes,” Cruikshank said, “All in all, it has been a very smooth transition back.”