Dean Diane Lande sees her retirement not as the end of a career but as a transition from one way of helping the community into another.

“I hope to take some time off, to get involved in some work that might address some social issues that are of concern and that might address the current paralysis in government,” Lande said. “Maybe I can do something that would contribute to some of the initiatives that our government is trying to move ahead that are stalled. Otherwise, I’m interested in working on some of the health care issues, particularly related to women, where we see a lot of backsliding recently.”

Lande plans to visit her daughter in South Africa. Her possible next steps include working for various liberal politicians and organizations.

“I would love to work for Elizabeth Warren or Hillary Clinton,” she said. “I’d love to possibly work for Planned Parenthood. It’s an organization that is maligned a lot that does tremendous good work.”

Lande’s first experiences working in education were in two Boston schools. Then, she worked at schools in East Bridgewater and Lexington.

After 12 years of working at BHS, Lande hopes she leaves having had an impact.

“I had a student, who graduated in 2004, who has gone through a lot of medical issues and who continues to work here,” she said. “Recently, we talked about what it was like when she was a student here, and I was her dean, and how she didn’t appreciate what I did then because I was the limit-setter for her, but she’s still coming back here and valuing the experience that she had here.”

Lande said Brookline High is the best school she has worked in.

“It’s a spectacular place. It encompasses the best in all the schools I’ve worked in,” Lande said. “This school takes the best of all of those schools and does the best for kids.”