|
|
|
Uploaded: Wednesday, April 18, 2012, 10:18 AM
New principal named for Encinal School
|
|
by Renee Batti
Almanac Staff
Photo
 | Sharon A. Burns, principal of a Mountain View elementary school of 582 students, will likely be Encinal School's new principal, Superintendent Maurice Ghysels of the Menlo Park City School District announced this week.
Ms. Burns has headed Frank L. Huff Elementary School for the last four years. During that time, she has "overseen the training and certification of all teachers in Gifted and Talented Education (GATE), while at the same time achieving a 30-point API (Academic Performance Index)increase for Latino student (and an 11-point overall increase for the school …)," Mr. Ghysels said in his statement.
Mr. Ghysels and Ms. Burns have worked together before, when he served as superintendent of the Mountain View Whisman School District until he resigned that post in 2010. He is recommending her for the Encinal position, with the school board expected to approve the appointment at its May 8 meeting.
In his written announcement, Mr. Ghysels said he hopes to have a recommendation for a new Hillview Middle School principal for the board's approval at the same meeting, with both new principals beginning their jobs on Aug. 2.
She was "put forward as a candidate for the Encinal principal position by an outside search firm and was identified by our district interviewing panel as a finalist for the job," he said.
Before she became principal of Huff, Ms. Burns "spent 2005-2008 educating and coaching new teachers in the Mountain View Whisman School District," Mr. Ghysels said. "She was one of the inaugural graduates of the Leadership Academy we established in the district when I was superintendent, which was designed to nurture and groom high-performing teachers for leadership positions."
Ms. Burns will replace Allison Liner as principal of the 772-student school in Atherton. Ms. Liner will leave her post at the end of the school year to become the district's chief learning officer.
Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
|
|
| Comments
|
Posted by DC McGlynn, a resident of the Menlo Park: Central Menlo Park neighborhood, on Apr 19, 2012 at 9:36 am Is this a coincidence or what is it about Mountain View schools and this Superintendent ? How many more of his friends will he hire ?
Mt. View residents seem to still have a thing or 2 to say
Web Link
Maybe Sharon is a great leader and would be great for Encinal .. but it all seems a little cozy.
PS. Why is it we are bled to the bone with Fundraising with MPAEF et al and we have some many new roles for staff, like Allison L.
|
|
Posted by Rene, a resident of the Menlo Park: Menlo Oaks neighborhood, on Apr 19, 2012 at 6:45 pm Well, at least he hasn't tried hiring his girlfriend away from Mountain View--the one that got him fired from there.
|
|
Posted by Tricia B, a resident of the Menlo Park: The Willows neighborhood, on Apr 20, 2012 at 5:24 pm @DC McGlynn. Allison Liner will be replacing retiring Assistant Superintendent, Jo Mitchell. There is not a new position being created for her. The position is just being re-named.
Hope that helps.
|
|
Posted by Questioning, a resident of the Atherton: Lindenwood neighborhood, on Apr 21, 2012 at 10:13 am Tricia-You are correct, the position Allison Liner is moving into is not new, just rebranded---but, Ghysels and the Board did create 2 new "Learning Leader" positions at a time when the district is deficit spending.
Another curious decision was to contract with the same recruiting firm that found Ghysels to "find" the new principals and then hiring someone who worked for Ghysels in Mountain View.
|
|
Posted by Professor, a resident of the Menlo Park: South of Seminary/Vintage Oaks neighborhood, on Apr 21, 2012 at 6:23 pm You nailed it Questioning. The hiring firms and candidates are one in the same and are responsible for inflating the positions and the salaries. It's all about corrupted networks of influence. The references are padded and they are connected to the ones hiring. Hardly an objective and fair system, but definitely a costly one. MPCSD would do better to hire up from within and from where educators with true roots to the community could grow professionally. What you have here is a superintendent that does not want to take chances on new talent, but only rob from within other districts at presumably at high cost to both districts. These candidates are NOT coming to MPCSD for less pay! This is more a move by Ghysels to form the corporation he never had where costs are irrelevant and the students come last. Hence, he wants to emulate corporations like Google, which only hires the top talent for top dollars. MPCSD will become nothing more that a stepping stone for principals and administrators to use for their next position up and out in other districts. Mark my words.
|
|
Posted by downtown, a resident of the Menlo Park: Downtown neighborhood, on Jun 10, 2012 at 10:08 am I enjoyed seeing Maurice Ghysels and a large number of MPCSD staff at Mistrals ($$$) last week. Any more questions?
|
|
Posted by Jim, a resident of the Menlo Park: other neighborhood, on Jun 22, 2012 at 7:41 am Better audit the district accounts. This doesn't look good. And perception is everything (to include the Rolex).
|
|
|
| |
|
Send this story
Print this story
