GRAND RAPIDS, MI – For Mulonge Kalumbula, education was never just a luxury. It was a lifeline.
Kalumbula was 12 years old when he first enrolled in the U.S. education system after emigrating from the Congo with his family. He remembers how difficult it was being a refugee student in an American school – not knowing the language, navigating a new culture, having to translate between his parents and teachers.
“Coming into a school where I only knew, ‘Yes, please, cool, awesome, and no,’ in English, and then being told, ‘Go meet your classmates and learn with them, and also keep up,’ that was a hard experience for me,” said Kalumbula, now 49.
But that experience proved to be life-changing. He said his education opened opportunities “beyond my wildest dream.”
“If I think about where some of my counterparts are – my friends that I grew up with both in Congo and here – and the life that I’m living through education as a form of a lifeline, it has opened many things for me that I would not have had otherwise,” he said.
“Education is liberation.”
Today, Kalumbula is the new principal at Shawmut Hills Academy, a public school in Grand Rapids serving roughly 260 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
Becoming a principal has been a longtime goal of his, and Kalumbula said he wants to use his position to help other students find the same success and sense of belonging that he found through education.
“I know when I see students who are brand new, or who are English language learners in our school, I can say, I’ve been there,” he said. “I think because of my experience, I can relate to both sides of the equation and have more empathy and understanding to what we are trying to help our families accomplish, as partners in the education of their students.”
Kalumbula’s first day on the job was Tuesday, Aug. 22, the first day of school for Grand Rapids Public Schools. Becoming principal was a role Kalumbula was thrilled to be stepping into after 24 years in education serving as a teacher, curriculum supervisor and eventually assistant principal.
Principal Mulonge Kalumbula sits outside with students at Shawmut Hills Academy, at 2550 Burritt St. NW in Grand Rapids. (Photo provided by Grand Rapids Public Schools)
Kalumbula said his primary goal as principal is to help students feel like they belong at Shawmut and have a voice and sense of ownership in their education. He also wants to increase student growth and achievement rates, making sure no student is left behind.
“I believe deeply that we are called to serve, and we serve with integrity, compassion and understanding,” he said. “At the end of the day, we are serving parents who have sent to us the greatest treasure they have, which is their kids.”
Kalumbula attributes his love of education to his father, the Rev. Kizombo Kalumbula, who didn’t earn his high school diploma until he was 36 years old and instilled in his children the importance of fulfilling their potential and treasuring the power of education.
“He always told us that education liberates people,” Kalumbula recalled. “He put into my siblings and I that, if you want to impact families and communities, pursue education. Be a servant leader in the buildings, in the classrooms, or whatever role you play.”
“I think that passion really drove me to say, yes, I need to pursue education, I need to liberate people, I need to expand the minds of our people, because many students don’t think school is for them.”
After completing high school, Kalumbula went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in religious education from Grace Bible College. He later earned another bachelor’s in biology and social studies and teaching certificate from Cornerstone University; a master’s in K-12 leadership from Michigan State University; and a doctorate in K-12 administration from Western Michigan University.
He started his career in education in 1999 as a teacher at Grand Rapids’ Creston High School (now closed). In 2009, he moved to Godwin Heights Public Schools for a year to serve an internship while he completed his master’s degree.
After that, he accepted a job at GRPS as a social studies curriculum advisor, and would later become the supervisor for the district’s Career Technical Education, World Languages, and Advanced Placement programs. He served as assistant principal at Westwood Middle School for a year in 2022.
Kalumbula and his wife, Jessica, live in the city of Grand Rapids and have three children: Jana, Kalani and Amani.
The new Shawmut Hills principal said he wants parents and families to know that his door is always open.
“This work is not solitary work, and we can’t do this without our parents,” he said. “They are partners in this work. My door is always open to come by and talk about how we can better serve our scholars.”
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