Longtime district employee Dom Galu will be interim boss at
Aprea Elementary
Gilroy – Sergio Montenegro is the new principal of Mount Madonna Continuation High School, school officials announced Friday.
“There were two strong internal candidates, but we found with (Montenegro), his prior work at the Community Day School with at-risk kids, and (his connection) with parents and students set him apart,” Superintendent Edwin Diaz explained.
Montenegro has worked in the Gilroy Unified School District for the past nine years, spending the last six as a principal.
He was the first principal of Gilroy Community Day School, and most recently headed Luigi Aprea Elementary School for about five years.
“He will spend most of his time at Luigi Aprea until a replacement is found,” Diaz said.
Dom Galu, who served as principal of Mt. Madonna in the early 1990s, will serve as interim principal until a new principal is hired at Luigi Aprea. District officials expect the process to take about four to six weeks.
Interviews began Monday for the principalship, one week after James Maxwell was named Gilroy High School’s new leader.
Six candidates completed day one of a two-day interview process, with three moving on to the next round on Tuesday.
After Mt. Madonna was named one of the top 11 continuation high schools in the state this year, Gilroy Unified School District officials are not looking for someone to come in and make radical changes, Superintendent Edwin Diaz said.
“(We) need to have someone who’s going to be able to connect with the students … someone who can take a good program, add some new ideas, but keep on moving in the same direction,” he said.
Montenegro has experience heading schools with very small and medium-sized student bodies. Community Day School has an enrollment of about 30, while Luigi Aprea has a population of about 500. Mt. Madonna’s enrollment falls somewhere in between with about 200 students.
The principalship opened up July 13 when principal Paul de Ayora, who was transferred to Mt. Madonna from South Valley Middle School in May, stepped down to accept a job in another school district. Former Mt. Madonna principal John Perales had been reassigned to head South Valley.
The position was advertised on Ed-join.org for about a month and attracted about 22 applicants. According to Diaz, several internal candidates applied for the position which pays from $82,585 to $97,684. As of press time Friday, Montenegro’s exact salary was unknown.
Recruiter Gene Sakahara and Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Linda Piceno narrowed the field down to six.
Mt. Madonna is a continuation high school with an enrollment of less than 200.
On Monday, the 11 panelists – consisting of Mt. Madonna staff, one parent, one student, and a community member, as well as GUSD staff – interviewed the candidates in two separate sessions.
The first included a formal question-and-answer interview, where panelists asked each applicant a series of predetermined questions. This was followed by a simulation interview, where applicants were given a scenario and expected to improvise – a method used to determine how they think on their feet.
All candidates completed a writing test designed to show their reasoning and organizational abilities.
The two interview panels convened to discuss each applicant’s strengths and determine which candidates would move forward to meet with the executive team, consisting of the Superintendent Diaz and the district’s three assistant superintendents.
Superintendent Diaz made the final decision and recommend Montenegro to the GUSD board at the next meeting Aug. 18.
