New faces at the head of the class

BARSTOW — Principal Jason Moore does not want to leave the students at Tiefort View Intermediate School.

He has been with the students since they moved into the new school less than two years ago, helped them make a hand-print American flag in the school’s concrete and just recently ate live worms to reward them for reaching their reading goal. But the allure of a promotion and shaving nearly 150 miles off his daily commute was too enticing.

The Silver Valley School District recently hired four new administrators to replace Moore, who will take a job in the Oro Grande District next year, and other principals and assistant principals making moves around the district. The four were approved at board meeting earlier this month and will take over their respective school sites at the beginning of next school year.

Ruth Williams will step in as principal for Moore at Tiefort. Derek Pinto will replace Gretchen Jacobs as the principal at Yermo School. Cameron Smart will take over as an assistant principal and the athletic director at Silver Valley High School, and Charles Thatch will head Fort Irwin Middle School for Joni James who is going over to run the Alternative Education Center in Daggett.

Williams visited the Tiefort campus on Wednesday and had a chance to meet with students and parents during the day. She said already students were telling her that they were preparing to leave Tiefort because the Army was moving their parents, a challenge she expects at the Fort Irwin school.

“The children need to be able come in, and they need to connect and that’s where I come in,” Williams said. “You have to make them feel welcomed.”

While working with families at the March Air Force Base near Riverside, Williams said she learned how to help students with the anxiety and other emotions surrounding deployments and military life.

Charles Thatch, the incoming principal at Fort Irwin Middle School, is already adjusted to military life and life at Fort Irwin. According to the district, Thatch served eight years in the Army and spent time at Fort Irwin. Joni James, the current middle school principal, said familiarity with military acronyms and its way of life will be advantageous to Thatch as he takes over.

Pinto brings international experience to Yermo School. He has taught in Canada and Japan and hopes to make Silver Valley the best small district in California, according to the district.

Smart is not moving too far to take his new position at Silver Valley High School. He currently is a vice principal at Hesperia Junior High and the assistant principal job in Silver Valley offered him a chance to move up and get back into the high school setting, which he enjoys.

With such a large area covered by the district, Superintendent Marc Jackson said strong leadership at the principal level is essential to a successful district. He said each individual school site was involved with the search for a new principal and is excited about the new leaders.

Where are they going

Gretchen Jacobs and Jason Moore, principals in the Silver Valley Unified School District, are both leaving the district to take promotions at other California districts.

Moore, formerly the principal at Tiefort View Intermediate School, will be the Director of Curriculum and Instruction at the Oro Grande School District, which is only 12 minutes from his house and a much sorter commute than Fort Irwin.

Gretchen Jacobs, the former principal at Yermo School, is moving to Northern California to take a job similar to her position in Yermo there. She will also be working toward becoming an assistant superintendent there.

Jacobs said she will miss the challenges of running the Yermo School. Some students travel from as far as Ludlow to go to school in Yermo, Jacobs said, making connecting with families throughout the district difficult.

During her time at Yermo School, Jacobs said she has increased the amount of field trips students take to experience different arts and boosted the school’s attendance rate, in part, by having bottled water available at the district.

“It’s usually good,” she said of the water in Yermo, “but when you need it, it might not be.”

Jeff Baggett, head of the Alternative Education Center in Daggett, is also leaving the district.

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4121 or aaron_aupperlee@link.freedom.com