KHSD names new principals
BY JEFF NACHTIGAL, Californian staff writer jnachtigal@bakersfield.com
When a principal moves on in the Kern High School District, it creates a domino effect as others move up the administrative ladder.
This year, Gwen Nielsen was named principal of Highland High, and Michael Zulfa was named principal of South High.
Related Info
PRINCIPAL FACTS
Bill Bruce, Frontier High principal, is the longest-tenured principal in the district. Bruce has been principal at four high schools for 19 years. He started in the district as a teacher in 1970.
Willie Sandoval, Independence High principal. Also principal at the Regional Occupational Center from 1998, and Golden Valley High from 2002; director of business administration at district office beginning in 1997.
Blanca Cavazos, Arvin High principal since 1997.
Bob Schneider, Highland High principal since 1999. Will become district school/community liaison at end of this school year.
Bryon Schaefer, North High principal since 1998.
David Reese, Bakersfield High principal since 1999. Director of instruction at district office 1996-99.
Susan Handy, Bakersfield Adult School principal since 2003.
Steve Wedel, Centennial High principal since 2008. Worked at district office as director of staff development and guidance.
Lee Vasquez, East High in March 2009. Previously was South High principal beginning in 2005. Worked at district office as director of pupil personnel before South.
Brenda Lewis, Foothill High principal since 2007. Prior work at district office.
Dean Juola, Golden Valley High principal since 2007. Worked at district office 2000-04.
Gwen Nielsen will become Highland High principal at end of year. She replaces Bob Schneider, recently appointed to district school/community liaison officer.
Jeanie Brachear, Kern Valley principal for past five years.
Pat Preston, Liberty High principal since 2006.
Jaime Quinonez, Mira Monte Principal 2008; Shafter High Principal beginning in 2001.
Sandi Banducci, Regional Occupational Center Principal since 2005. Worked at district office twice before becoming a principal.
Steve Holmes, Ridgeview High Principal since 2007. Worked at district office three years as Director of Information Systems & Technology
John Davis, Shafter High principal since 2007. District office director of instruction 2005-07
Mike Zulfa, South High principal effective March 2009.
Ramon Hendrix, Stockdale High principal since 2004.
Dean McGee, West High principal since 2005; Regional Occupational Center principal beginning in 2002. Worked at district office 1998-2002.
Zulfa started his career in the district as a teacher at South High, and worked most recently as the assistant principal of Foothill High.
"I'm enthusiastic, I'm really glad to be here to continue to get more of our students and community involved in our school," Zulfa said.
Zulfa will emphasize college admissions curriculum, which garnered 20 letters of acceptance from University of California schools for South High students this year.
His philosophy: Create good relationships between adults and students on campus.
"Relationship building is an important part of the educational process," Zulfa said.
Nielsen moves into her new position from Mira Monte High, where she was assistant principal.
"My job is to help teachers do their job, to educate students for their careers," said Nielsen, who began her career in 1975 as a teacher at Shafter High.
"Highland has a rich, rich heritage. I want to support that. And I think I bring a breadth of experience at different levels," Nielsen said.
Lee Vasquez, former principal at South High, has moved to East High.
Developing trust with your teachers and creating a feeling of accessibility given the high stakes of testing and standards, particularly with new teachers, is important, Vasquez said.
Vasquez singled out the feeling of family and community on the East High campus.
"It's been wonderful to come back to where I started teaching," Vasquez said.
Most CommentedMost Popular
Since Karen Goh returned to Kern County from a publishing career in New York in 2004, she has helped foster a strong network of Christian leaders in government, politics, media, business and nonprofits.
A settlement has been reached in radio talk show host Inga Barks' sexual harassment lawsuit against former co-host Scott Cox and American General Media.
Is Kern County, as has widely been reported, really the expulsion capital of California? That's the question posed Friday by state Sen. Michael Rubio, D-Shafter, to 50 or so Kern County educators, elementary and high school district administrators and community leaders.
Here's a bit of news that I didn't expect. The Kern County District Attorney's office has launched an investigation into whether the Board of Supervisors' practice of routinely placing the job performance of County Administrative Officer John Nilon on the "closed session" portion of its agenda is...
Since Karen Goh returned to Kern County from a publishing career in New York in 2004, she has helped foster a strong network of Christian leaders in government, politics, media, business and nonprofits.
Bakersfield’s Faast Pharmacy is going out of business and will be acquired by the big chain CVS, it was confirmed Monday.
Young's Marketplace, an independent grocery store that's a Bakersfield institution, will close at the end of the week.
Amtrak is suing a Kern County truck driver for more than half a million dollars in connection with a 2010 train crash in Shafter that injured about 20 people.