School has only been out one week but administrators have
already begun shifting roles in the district.
Gilroy – School has only been out one week but administrators have already begun shifting roles in the district.
Greg Camacho-Light, assistant principal at Gilroy High School, will become the assistant principal at Ascencion Solorsano Middle School starting Monday. He will continue at the high school in his current position until summer school ends Aug. 3.
“I’ve always had my heart with the younger set,” Camacho-Light said.
Camacho-Light started his career teaching theater arts and drama, including through Gavilan College’s summer acting camps. He then worked as a principal of a one-room schoolhouse in San Benito County.
He started as a theater teacher at the high school in 1994 and transitioned to an administrative role five years ago. His responsibilities included discipline and overseeing the lockdown drill.
The shift will allow him to practice similar skills and learn new ones at a middle school level, Camacho-Light said. He hopes to be a middle school principal in the future.
“It’ll enable me to learn the ins and outs of the program and learn from the best in that arena,” he said, referencing Solorsano principal Sal Tomasello. “It’s a great staff over there and I really look forward to the opportunity.”
He will replace Barbara Harris, who is taking a job as a principal in the Oak Grove Elementary School District.
In addition to the high school, the district will have to fill a hole at Brownell Middle School. Assistant principal Stephen Owens, who began the position in February, is taking an assistant principal job at a junior high school with Petaluma City Schools.
Owens made the shift so that he could be closer to his family. The Gilroy Unified School District was his second district in 12 years and stood out for the positive climate among teachers and administrators, he said.
There is “good teacher support here and the district was very supportive of all the work that we’ve done,” he said.
The district will be looking to fill the positions by the beginning of August, said Linda Piceno, assistant superintendent of human resources. This will give the new administrators time to prepare for the coming school year, she said.
