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Kevin Ahern was selected as the new Monte Vista High principal Thursday, less than a week after a Larkspur administrator who was appointed to the position in June instead opted out of leading the Danville school.
Ahern, who holds a doctoral degree in education, comes to the San Ramon Valley with more than 20 years of experience in public education, including most recently as principal at a junior-senior high school in El Dorado County.
“Mr. Ahern’s proven leadership and success will be a great asset to the Monte Vista High School community,” San Ramon Valley schools superintendent Mary Shelton said in a statement.
The appointment, made during a special school board meeting Thursday morning, occurred less than a month after board members voted to name Eric Saibel as the new Monte Vista principal to succeed retiring Janet Terranova.
However, Saibel informed San Ramon Valley officials July 10 that he would not be taking the Monte Vista position, citing personal reasons, according to district spokeswoman Elizabeth Graswich.
“I was humbled and thrilled at the opportunity to lead Monte Vista — a tremendous school with a wonderful, committed staff, a stellar district leadership team and a supportive community that is passionate about education,” Saibel said in an email Friday. “It was a very difficult choice to step away from this position, however it is ultimately what is best for me and my family at this point in time.”
“Given the increasingly connected nature of the educational landscape, I look forward to following and learning from the great work happening across SRVUSD. What a terrific place for kids to learn and grow,” added Saibel, who most recently worked as assistant principal at Larkspur’s Hall Middle School.
In the wake of the about-face, the district hired a search firm to conduct a statewide search from which a pool of candidates was identified and interviewed by a local committee of parents, staff and administrators, Graswich said.
Ahern was one of two candidates recommended by the committee, Graswich said. The school board deliberated Thursday morning in Danville and named Ahern to the Monte Vista position in a 4-0 vote, with board president Denise Jennison absent.
Ahern served the past five years as principal of Golden Sierra Junior-Senior High School in Garden Valley, located in El Dorado County.
He previously worked as vice principal at Golden Sierra High School, and under his leadership, the school shifted from a high school for grades 9-12 to a junior-senior high school for grades 7-12, Graswich noted.
His other prior positions included director of secondary curriculum and instruction, director of secondary professional development, German teacher (including Advanced Placement) and head football coach.
Ahern holds a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in educational leadership from St. Mary’s College, a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Chapman University and a bachelor’s degree in English from UC Davis.
He is set to start at Monte Vista on Wednesday, according to Graswich.
“We are excited to welcome Dr. Ahern as the new principal for Monte Vista High School,” Jennison, who is out of town, said in an email interview. “He brings exceptional leadership skills and a wealth of experience that will be a great benefit to the educators, students and families that make up the MVHS community.”
The school board made a second appointment during its special meeting Thursday, naming Cynthia Perez as director of special education.
“Cynthia’s extensive education and experience related to special education will provide strong leadership to the Special Education Department,” Graswich said.
Perez most recently held the same position in the Mountain View Whisman School District. She also worked as a compliance officer and program supervisor at the Hayward Unified School District and as principal at Stars High School, a non-public school in Alameda County.
With 19 years of special education experience overall, Perez holds master’s dual degrees in special education with an emphasis in moderate/severe curriculum and instruction and educational administration from San Jose State. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Sacramento State.
Her start date has yet to be determined, Graswich said.
Ok, this sounds better. Best wishes for a long and happy career at MVHS!
It may take some getting used to having more than 2 AP classes in your new high school, and having more than 3 of your graduating seniors attending a UC!
Paradigm shift for our district: bringing in a highly qualified administrator for a large, high performing high school from a very small school of 7-12th grades in Garden Valley. Look at their website.
Good luck, sir, and the staff at MVHS welcomes you.
Monte Vista Parent:
Pretentious much????? Exactly why the district has a hard time attracting qualified admins. . It is parents like you. Look at all the job postings that are not filled for teachers. Word is out that this district has parents that attempt to make educators lives miserable. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a few disagreements with teachers. But, I ultimately treat them with respect and work towards a solution rather than run and hide at Starbucks in my yoga pants and talk behind the backs of our hard working teachers.
I agree with Monte Vista parent. Finally, the board is recruiting what seems to be highly qualified people to run a very competitive and high-achieving high school. Calling concerned parents “pretentious” seems highly disingenuous because most people move to the Danville area because the schools are so good. It seem very phoney of those who belittle parents who hold school personnel accountable for providing a quality education. And Sully if you talk to teachers the way you addressed and stereotyped Monte Vista Parent
(Starbucks and yoga pants), then you are dilusional about your own attitude.
Danny,
Your response made me laugh. You said you agreed with Monte Vista parent? You must not have read the comments. They were belittling and ridiculing the new appointment as someone unqualified to handle MVHS since they ate coming from such a small-time school.
I do not know the new Principal, but I wish him luck and hope he uses this small town wisdom: If it aint broke, don’t fix it!
Something that more than a few recent SRVUSD principals have either never heard, or did not subscribe to in their desire to justify their existence.
At least he’s not black!! Lol
Oh Swagdaddy69. Don’t say that. That is immature and unnecessary.
MV Supporter: to “laugh” at someone’s sincere attempt to express an opinion is a passive-aggressive form of bullying. So is stereotyping as Sully did with his “Starbuck’s and yoga pants” comment. Both MV Supporter and Sully are prime examples of “pretenious” Danville parents who drive away highly qualified educators from our local schools. The sad part is that both MV Supporter and Sully do not even recognize their own pretentiousness.
Thank you all for your comments. I really want this educator to be successful, and to continue the improvements begun by Mrs. Terranova during her years at Monte Vista. Dr. Ahern has impressive credentials, and a positive record for school administration.
By the way, Sully–I drink local Zolo coffee, and do not frequent Starbucks. I am concerned that you assume that I am female, and therefore wear yoga pants. I am an MV parent, a father, and find it to be indicative of your character to make these assumptions.
Teachers and all educators, as well as support staff, work hard for little pay, compared to the corporate world. They are also open to criticism, as we all are.
I would be remiss if I thought it not a challenge to come to a high school like Monte Vista, with so many students who go on to universities, colleges, commmunity colleges, and the armed forces. Dr. Ahern comes from a small 7-12th grade school, so I expect that he will have some challenges. The staff at MVHS does welcome him, and we parents will continue to have high expectations for our children’s education.
Does anybody know why the previous candidate didn’t stay?
Al,
Just read the comments by ‘Monte Vista Parent’ aka ‘Danny.’ Obviously the same person or related. Pretty lame Danny or whatever your name is. Al, would you want to deal with people like that?
BTW, ‘Monte Vista Parent aka Danny’ in case you hadn’t heard… men do yoga and probably wear yoga pants.)
David, “real” men certainly DO NOT wear yoga pants. Good lord, I shudder at the sight, real or imagined.