Change is in the air for Gilroy Unified School District, which
is on the hunt for three worthy successors to fill vacant spaces
left open by migrating principals.
Change is in the air for Gilroy Unified School District, which is on the hunt for three worthy successors to fill vacant spaces left open by migrating principals.
Greg Kapaku, Principal of South Valley Middle School, will be moving jobs across town to assume his new position as Christopher High School’s second vice principal. Salvatore Tomasello, principal of Ascencion Solorsano Middle School, will be retiring in June. James Dent, principal of Eliot Elementary School, will be departing Eliot to spearhead Gilroy Prep School as head administrator in August 2011.
All three of the vacant positions are open to outside hires and have been posted on edjoin.com, a public education job search website.
“We had quite a few applicants, over 50,’ said Joel Herrera, assistant superintendent of GUSD Human Resources over the phone Thursday. “It’s exciting, and at the same time, it’s a process in which we take our time.”
At least two of those confirmed applicants already belong in to the GUSD family tree. Tomasello has recommended to the district Maria Walker, who has been with the district for 20 years; and Anisha Munshi, who has been with the district for 11 years. Both are vice principals at Solorsano.
“If I were the superintendent, I would appoint both of our assistant principals to be principals anywhere in our school district,” asserted Tomasello, who confirmed the district has reduced Solorsano’s administrative staffing down to one assistant principal for the 2011-12 school year.
“They’ve taught elementary, they’ve taught middle school, their children have gone through our middle schools, we have trained them well, they’ve paid their dues and they’re extremely loyal to the district.”
Herrera confirmed one of three vice principal positions will also be eliminated from Gilroy High School for the 2011-12 school year.
As for the new South Valley and Solorsano principal positions, he said, interviews are under way with several taking place last week.
Protocol for selecting new staff, he explained, entails three different phases.
During the first round, applicants are reviewed and questioned by a panel including teachers, classified staff, parents, representatives from bargaining units and principals. GUSD Superintendent Deborah Flores and school board trustees facilitate the second round, and Flores conducts the final solo interview, he said.
“Principals are some of the key positions in the district,” added Herrera, who said the new middle school hires should be announced by the end of April. “It’s an important spot for us.”
Kapaku became principal of South Valley for the 2008-09 school year after John Perales, former South Valley principal, departed in preparation to take the reins as CHS’s principal for its opening in 2010.
Both are happy to be joining forces once again.
“I’m excited. We work very well together,” Perales said. “It’s all good in the hood.”
With about 1,440 students expected at CHS next year, he added, two vice principals will help keep day-to-day tasks manageable.
Kapaku said he and Perales make a great team, and that he’s excited for the chance to get his feet wet at the high school level after spending 14 years immersed in middle school.
“I’m looking to come in, get with the program and bring some of my strength to the staff,” he said. “For me, I was looking for change, something to recharge my battery. I’ve always wanted to be in high school, so this was a perfect time for me to do that.”
Whoever fills the vacant slots at South Valley and Solorsano, he added, will do a great job and should bring some new ideas, new energy and new perspective to the position.
Of course with change comes risk, he said, “but there’s enough established already that it will be a smooth transition.”
Veteran principal Tomasello, who has been serving GUSD as a teacher and coach since 1978 and also as an athletic director beginning in 1984 for 16 years, is departing his post in June but said he’s confident with Solorsano’s solid infrastructure.
“One of my goals in my career has always been to build leadership capacity within the organization,” he said over the phone Friday. “I think we’ve done that here at Solorsano.”
Tomasello, who described leaving as “bittersweet,” added he has three grandchildren in GUSD – two who will be attending Ascencion Solorsano next year – and he is looking forward to spending more time with them. He said it’s the right time to retire, and he and his wife are looking forward to their next phase in life together.
“Me leaving, I’ve been an important part. But we have many people on this campus who have been leaders and will continue to be leaders.”
Dent, principal of Eliot Elementary whose four-year tenure at Eliot has tacked an unprecedented 168 points onto the school’s score on the Academic Performance Index, said he’ll likely be training a replacement for his position at Eliot by the end of May.
GPS, a brand new charter school 10 years in the making, is set to open in August 2011. Dent officially accepted the position of administrator in March.
“I believe the posting for Eliot closes around April 24 or 25,” Dent said Thursday. “I hope the person they end up selecting is someone who can come in and support teachers in the direction that the school has been going rather than making changes. That’s everyone’s biggest anxiety.”
As for naming a successor he could confidently endorse, Dent said he thinks its good to open the job up to the greater community of administrators so as to attract the best possible candidates.
Eliot’s success, he said, is attributed to a number of various elements including a robust before and after-school program, a strong phonics program in the early grades, an emphasis on technology and whole brain teaching – a system that combines kinesthetic, auditory and visual elements to engage all types of learners.
“You can’t just stop when things are going well,” he pointed out. “You always have to be searching for ways to do things better. Hopefully, whoever comes in will have that personality.”
Herrera confirmed GUSD hopes to have a replacement squared away for Eliot by the end of May.
“We want to fast track it, but not so much that we hurt the process,” he said.
