Poway Unified Appoints 8 New Principals

Eight new principals in the were appointed at Monday’s Board of Education meeting, filling vacancies formed due to promotions and principals moving to other positions or retiring, said Superintendent John Collins.

“None of us expected to have to hire eight new principals this year when the year started … they came in one by one for various reasons,” Collins said.

Five of the new principals are assistant principals at schools within the district, and the other three are principals hired away from other districts in Southern California.

“The fact that we could promote so many of our internal candidates—who we have so much faith and trust in and who have done such wonderful work for us—is wonderful,” Collins said.

The new principals are:

David LeMaster,

LeMaster presently serves as an assistant principal of Westview High School, a position he has held since 2010. From 2006-2010, he was an assistant principal at . LeMaster started in the district teaching history and English at Poway High, where he also served as Social Science Department Chairman. Previous to that he was an English teacher at Arroya Grande High School in the Lucia Mar Unified School District.

He has a bachelor of arts degree in history from Cal Poly San Obispo and a master of arts degree in educational leadership from CSU San Marcos.

Kelly Burke,

Burke is presently an assistant principal at Del Norte High School, where she has worked for three years. She served as assistant principal at Rancho Bernardo High School from 2006 to 2008 and at Poway High School from 2004 to 2006. Burke came to PUSD in 2004 after working as a teacher leader at Sullivan Middle School in the Bonsall Union School District, where she taught grades six through eight.

She graduated from San Diego State with bachelor of arts and master of arts degrees in public administration, and a doctor of education leadership degree from UCSD and SDSU.

Casey Currigan, Oak Valley Middle School

Currigan has been an assistant principal at Black Mountain Middle School for six years. He was summer school principal for Black Mountain and Mesa Verde Middle Schools from 2007 to 2009.

Before coming to PUSD, Currigan was the dean of students at Marston Middle School in the San Diego Unified School District from 2005 to 2006. From 1998 to 2005, he taught eighth-grade science at Marston.

Currigan has a bachelor of science degree in biology from SDSU and a master of science degree in educational technology from National University, San Diego.

Greg Magno, Black Mountain Middle School

Magno has been an assistant principal at since 2004. He was a math teacher at Eastlake High School (2001-2004) and Montgomery Middle School (1998-2001) in the Sweetwater Union High School District.

He graduated from UCSD with a bachelor of science degree in structural education, and SDSU with a master of art degree in educational leadership.

Tim Biland,

Biland has been the principal of Imperial Elementary School in the Orange Unified School District since 2008. Before that he was assistant principal of Orange Unified’s McPherson Magnet School K-eight in 2007-2008 and assistant principal of Porloa Middle School from 2004-2007. Biland was a seventh grade language arts teacher and an English language development facilitator from 2000 to 2004 for grades six through eight at the David A. Brown Middle School in the Lake Elsinore Unified School District. He also English language learners in the Valley Adult School in 2003-2004.

He graduated from CSU San Marcos with a bachelor of arts degree in liberal studies, and from CSU San Bernardino with a master of arts degree in educational administration.

Michael Olander, Monterey Ridge Elementary School

Olander has been the principal at West Orange Elementary School in the Orange Unified School District for four years. He served as assistant principal at from 2006-2008. He started his career as an elementary school counselor at Anza Elementary in the Cajon Valley Union School District in 1998, then as a special education teacher.

Olander has a bachelor of arts degree in psychology with a minor in biology and a master of arts degree in counseling psychology from SDSU. His school administration credential is from Chapman University.

Bob Rodrigo, Sundance Elementary School

Rodrigo has been the principal of Summerwind Elementary School and AVID Intermediate School in the Palmdale School District for six years. He was the principal of Joshua Hills Elementary School from 2000-2006, and assistant principal of Cimmaron Elementary School in Palmdale and Tierra Bonita Elementary School in the Eastside School District. He taught English and writing in grades three through six, computer classes in grades K-six, taught grades four through six, and taught science and math in grades seven and eight.

He has a bachelor of arts degree in liberal studies with a geology concentration from CSU Long Beach, and an administration credential from CSU Bakersfield.

Ronald Garrett,

Garrett’s impending appointment to principal of Abraxas High School was announced last week.