New year, new leaders at schools, central office

New principal Heather Harris with students at Emerson Bandini.

As with every new school year, there are new faces at the helm of schools and departments throughout the district. As of publication, the following individuals have been named to leadership positions at the following school sites and central office departments.

Principal Appointments:
Lincoln High School - John Ross
Mission Bay High - Ernest Remillard
Bell Middle - Precious Hubbard-Jackson
Balboa Elementary - Hector Bravo
Cabrillo Elementary - Irene Hightower
Emerson/Bandini Elementary - Heather Harris
Field Elementary - Amy Griffiths
Freese Elementary - Shannon Lewis
Jerabek Elementary - Kristie Joiner
Joyner Elementary Tim Suanico
Loma Portal Elementary - Rebecca Penh
Mason Elementary - Dawn Powell
Salk Elementary - Deidre Hardson

Vice Principal Appointments:
Hoover High - Jeremy Martin
Kearny High Stanley E. Foster School of Engineering, Innovation, and Design - James Michaelian
Mira Mesa High - Jeffrey Sabins
Lewis Middle - Michelle Vergne
Euclid Elementary - Jose Valdez
Fay Elementary - Decydered Piña

Central Office Management Appointments:
Area 6 Superintendent - Fabiola Bagula
Chief Public Information Officer - Ursula Kroemer
Interim Chief Innovation Officer - Dan Stoneman
Interim Chief Operations Officer - Drew Rowlands

Interim Principal Assignments for Principal Vacancies:
Serra High - Mary Castleberry
SCPA - Carol Whaley
Pacific Beach Middle - Tom Yount
Standley Middle - Pat Crowder
Carver Elementary - Linda Valladolid
Hancock Elementary - Mary Jo Longo
Hickman Elementary - Judy Fogel
Ross Elementary - Steve Gennaro

Included below are short biographies from some of our new appointees.

Mission Bay High - Ernest Remillard, previous Principal at Pacific Beach MS
Ernest was previously the principal at Pacific Beach Middle School. He has been employed by the district since 2004. He has worked as a high school and a middle school math teacher, IB magnet resource teacher at Roosevelt, vice principal for three years at Pacific Beach Middle and one year at DePortola Middle. He earned his teaching credential from Drexler University and his master’s degree from USD.

Bell Middle - Precious Hubbard-Jackson, previous VP, Bell MS
Precious was previously the Interim Principal at Bell Middle. She has been employed at Bell Middle from 2005 to present. She was a teacher at Lincoln High School and vice principal at Bell Middle. She has also served in a variety of positions such as English Department Chair, member of the Blueprint Task Force and AVID Coordinator, just to name a few. She received her bachelor’s degree from Howard University, multiple subject teaching credential, master’s degree and preliminary administrative credential from San Diego State University.

Balboa Elementary - Hector Bravo, previous Associate Principal at Livingston High School
Hector was previously the associate principal at Livingston High School in Merced Union High School District. He was employed at Livingston from 2005 to 2014. His previous experience includes Spanish adjunct professor, education adjunct professor, summer school principal and Spanish teacher. He earned his master’s in Educational Leadership at California State University Sacramento and his bachelor’s at California State University Stanislaus.

Cabrillo Elementary School - Irene Hightower
Irene was previously vice principal at Rosa Parks Elementary. She served as vice principal there for the past seven years. Prior to being at Rosa Parks, she was a vice principal at Doyle Elementary. She has been employed by the district since 1986. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from San Diego State University.

Emerson/Bandini Elementary School - Heather Harris
Heather was previously vice principal at Golden Hill Elementary. She has been employed by the district since 1999. She worked as a teacher at Edison and Hamilton elementary schools and as a vice principal at Golden Hill. She received her bachelor’s degree at California State University San Marcos, master’s degree at National University and her administrative credential at San Diego State University.

Field Elementary School - Amy Griffiths, previous VP, Lindbergh Schweitzer
Amy was previously vice principal at Lindbergh Schweitzer. She has been employed by the district since 1998. She has also worked as a bilingual teacher and resource teacher. She received her bachelor’s degree from University of San Diego and her BCLAD and master’s degree from National University. She also received her specialized certificate in gifted and talented education and preliminary administrative credential from University of San Diego.

Jerabek Elementary School - Kristie Joiner, previous VP, Santee School District
Kristie was previously vice principal with the Santee School District, working in that district since 2008. Prior to working at the Santee School District, she was employed by South Bay Union School District from 1998-2008. She received her bachelor’s, teaching credential, master’s and administrative credential from Point Loma Nazarene University.

Joyner Elementary School - Tim Suanico
Tim was previously the principal at Ross Elementary. He has been employed by the district for 26 years and has been at Ross Elementary since 2007. His employment with the district includes being a classroom teacher, resource teacher, principal and vice principal. He received his bachelor’s degree from University of California San Diego, teaching credential from San Diego State University, and master’s degree and educational specialist degree at Point Loma from Nazarene University.

Loma Portal Elementary - Rebecca Penh, previous Magnet Coordinator, Joyner Magnet School
Rebecca was previously a project resource teacher at Joyner Elementary. She has worked for the district since 2002. She received her bachelor’s and CLAD teaching credential from San Diego State University. She earned her master’s degree at National University and administrative credential at University of San Diego.

Mason Elementary - Dawn Powell, previous VP, Mason ES
Dawn was previously the vice principal at Mason Elementary and had held that position since 2008. She has been employed with the District since 1999. She received her bachelor’s degree from California State University San Marcos, teaching credential and master’s degree from National University and administrative credential from University of San Diego.

Salk Elementary - Deidre Hardson
Deidre was previously the principal at Mason Elementary. She had been employed at Mason from 2007 to 2014. Prior to being principal at Mason, Deidre served as principal at E.B. Scripps from 2004-2007. She has been employed by the district since 1984. She received her bachelor’s degree, teaching credential, administrative credential and master’s degree from San Diego State University.

Vice Principals

Hoover High – Jeremy Martin, former Physical Education teacher at San Diego High School of Business
Jeremy was previously a physical education teacher at San Diego High School of Business. He has been with our district since 2002 and at San Diego High since 2004. His previous experience includes finance coordinator, mentor program coordinator and attendance intervention specialist. He earned his master’s in Educational Leadership from University of Texas at Arlington and his bachelor’s in Health and Physical Education from the University of Delaware.

Mira Mesa High School - Jeffrey Sabins
Jeffrey was previously a teacher at Mira Mesa High. He has worked at Mira Mesa High since 2012, and has served as a classroom teacher, resource teacher and interim vice principal. He has been employed by the district since 2003. He received his bachelor’s degree from California Lutheran University, teaching credential at San Diego State University and administrative services credential from National University.

Lewis Middle School - Michelle Vergne
Michelle was previously an algebra teacher at De Portola Middle. Along with her experience as a math teacher, she has also served as dean of students from 2012-13 at De Portola Middle and interim vice principal at Pershing Middle. She received her bachelor’s degree from California State University San Marcos, master’s degree from National University and her administrative credential from San Diego State University.

Euclid Elementary - Jose Valdez
Jose was previously an IB coordinator/in-school resource teacher at Roosevelt International Baccalaureate Magnet School. He has been employed with the district since 2000. His appointment at Euclid Elementary will be his first job as a vice principal. He is a graduate of San Diego State University.

Fay Elementary - Decydered Pina
Decydered was previously an in-school resource teacher at the Office of Language Acquisition. She has been a district employee since 1997. Her appointment at Fay will be her first job as a vice principal. She received her bachelor’s degree from University of San Diego and her master’s degree from National University.

Area 6 Superintendent - Fabiola Bagula
Ms. Bagula is a product of our San Diego education system. As a San Diego native, and a current Ph.D. student at the University of San Diego, she is dedicated and committed to the San Diego community. For the last decade, she was on the administration team at Balboa Elementary. Under her tenure, the school made academic gains of over 100 API points. The Balboa team won the Intel Mathematics Award in 2007, making it the only school in California to receive this honor thus far. Before working in administration, she taught at Marshall and Jackson elementary schools in City Heights, where she was also a teaching coach. Ms. Bagula has a M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from the University of San Diego. Read more.

Chief Public Information Officer - Ursula Kroemer
Ms. Kroemer worked at San Diego Unified from 1997 to 2008 serving in various capacities in the Communications Office. Most recently, Ursula served as the Program Manager for the San Diego Community College District’s $1.56 billion construction bond program. She also served as Communications Director for the program overseeing media and community relations, activities related to the Citizens’ Oversight Committee, and the program’s small business outreach program.