Beyond the Blackboard

Capo Trustees Name Chris Carter Principal at Aliso Niguel

From CUSD:

Capistrano Unified School District Trustees on Wednesday evening approved Christopher J. Carter as principal of Aliso Niguel High School (ANHS).

Carter, who will begin his new role on July 1, will be a familiar face to many members of the Aliso Niguel High School community. Carter has been principal at Don Juan Avila Middle School (DJAMS) in Aliso Viejo since 2004.           

“Chris is inheriting an excellent school with great students, staff, and parents,” Superintendent Joe Farley said. “His commitment to the community and his expertise in leading a rigorous instructional program will continue the tradition of academic excellence at Aliso Niguel High School.”           

Carter replaces Charles Salter, who has accepted a position as principal on special assignment.            “I am honored and excited to be named the new principal of Aliso Niguel High School,” Carter said. “This appointment affords me the unique opportunity to continue working with the students and parents I have served in the city of Aliso Viejo for the past seven years as the principal of Don Juan Avila Middle School. I look forward to joining an outstanding team of educators and building on the remarkable success and high academic achievement the school has already achieved. We will work collaboratively to ensure ANHS continues to be one of the top high schools in California and the nation.”           

ANHS was recently ranked No. 217 by Newsweek in the magazine’s annual list of America’s Best High Schools. It has also been named a California Distinguished School (1995), National Blue Ribbon School (2000), and U.S. Department of Education New American High School.           

Carter began his teaching career in 1994 as a social studies teacher at Shorecliffs Middle School. He served as an assistant principal at Niguel Hills Middle School and Dana Hills High School before becoming principal at DJAMS. He has a bachelor of arts degree in history from CSU San Diego and a master of science in education administration from National University. He received his teaching credential from CSU Long Beach and administrative credential from Chapman University.

Capistrano Unified's Westview Academy Delayed a Bit

Westview Academy, Capistrano Unified School District's planned online high school, will be delayed a semester. Instead of launching in September, the school will begin the following Spring with limited offerings, grow a bit into summer classes in 2012, then launch in earnest in Fall of 2012.

The reason? The district is still securing a site for the school, but more importantly, developing cyber classes that are acceptable for the UC and CSU systems is challenging.

Robert Nye, the former principal at Dana Hills High who will head Westview, still has plenty to do. Not only does he have to get the new virtual school up and running, he's the principal of CUSD's Adult School.

 

Brick Appointed to ROP Board

Trustees tonight selected Board President Jack Brick to represent Capistrano Unified School District on the Regional Occupational Program.
The vote was 4-2, with Trustees Ellen Addonizio and Sue Palazzo voting "no." Hatton was absent.
No surprise there. Addonizio and Palazzo represented CUSD on the Regional ROP board and liked the posts when their colleagues removed them.
The board appointed Trustees John Alpay and Lynn Hatton, but Hatton resigned because of a potential financial conflict of interest with her business and Laguna Beach - CUSD's partner in ROP.
So that left an opening, until a scheduled reorganization in a couple of meetings.
Alpay  Trustee Gary Pritchard nominated Brick.

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

News Roundup: Salter Moving On, Politics Gearing Up

The Orange County Register has the story that Aliso Niguel High Principal Charles Salter is moving on to another job in the district -- although that's not been disclosed yet. Salter, you probably remember, made national headlines when he cancelled a bunch of dances because students were dirty dancing.

Here's that story.

Meanwhile, Patch is reporting the political campaign is already gearing up to replace Trustee Sue Palazzo, who represents San Juan Capistrano and Ladera. There's some furor it's so early, and that Children's First is going after another seat.

Hard to get too serious about it now, though, as the districts will be redrawn before the 2012 election.

Here's that story.

(For the record, I am not the anonymous poster as accused on the board -- and that's V-O-L-Z-K-E, CapoMom -- but find it amusing.)

Here's Children First's website: http://www.capounifiedchildrenfirst.org

 

 

CUSD Suffers a Loss: UPDATED with Message from Family

Many folks will remember Rich Johnson -- he worked in Capistrano Unified for 31 years before retiring in 2003. He served a a principal at several campuses and retired as Executive Director of Secondary Services.

Johnson passed away suddenly June 15. With virtually no warning, he died because of a leukemia.

I don't have word on services yet. Our condolences to his family.

UPDATE:

A message from his family, with information on services:

We would like to thank everyone for the outpouring of love and support during this difficult time. 

A memorial for Rich Johnson will be held on Friday, June 24th at 3 p.m. in the gymnasium at San Juan Hills High School.  Given that Dad dedicated his life to education and CUSD, a beautiful new school in his hometown of nearly 40 years seems a perfect place to celebrate his life.  Please see the attached announcement.  If you would like to share a short story or memory of Dad during the service, please contact Kelli ([email protected] or 949.240.1312) by this Wednesday.

As Dad's passing came as a shock to us all, we would like to take this opportunity to share the events of the past week.  Last Sunday was a typical day for Dad, spent with his family.  He golfed with Greg and barbecued sausages at home for dinner.  Early Monday afternoon he was taken to the hospital after fainting at home.  He was admitted to the ICU and diagnosed with an acute form of leukemia that overwhelmed his system over the next two days.  The doctors at Mission Hospital did everything they could to help and kept him comfortable until he quietly passed away on Wednesday evening.

Some of you may recall Dad's "All Around Good Kid" award program when he was a middle school principal.  He designed the award to recognize kids who may not have been the highest-achieving, may not have been the most popular, may not have been the most athletic, may not have been the most talented, but were nonetheless outstanding kids with good hearts and good intentions.  We are hoping to continue Dad's tradition of acknowledging the sometimes overlooked with annual AAGK awards for CUSD students.  We will work on details throughout the summer and will share them with you in the fall.

We look forward to seeing those of you who can attend on Friday to help us remember Dad.

With gratitude,
The Johnson Family

 

Well, Apparently Things aren't THAT Bad in Capo Unified

The Orange County Register reports that two Capistrano Unified School District high schools -- Aliso Niguel and Capistrano Valley -- are among the best in the nation.

Aliso Niguel is 217 on the list, while Capistrano Valley is 459.

The rankings take into account test scores and graduation rates.

To see the Register's store, click here.