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Fowler to take over as Bonsall HS principal

Jason Fowler has become the Bonsall High School principal.

Fowler, who replaces Lee Fleming, was chosen for the position by a 5-0 Bonsall Unified School District board vote July 12.

"I'm just very pleased to be selected and excited to take on the challenge," Fowler said.

"We are very excited to have him," said BUSD superintendent David Jones. "I think he's going to be a positive influence and impact."

Fleming accepted an offer to become the head of school, which is the equivalent of a principal, at Samueli Academy in Santa Ana.

"It was a pretty heartbreaking decision for me to leave," Fleming said. "It's really hard to go."

Samueli Academy has a program for foster children and homeless youth.

"I feel like I could make a difference there," Fleming said.

Fowler becomes the third principal of Bonsall High School, which opened in August 2014. In August 2013 Janet Whiddon transitioned from the Sullivan Middle School principal to the district's director of curriculum (she is now also the district's director of human resources) and Tim Heck was hired as both the Sullivan principal and the original principal of Bonsall High School.

Heck was involved in the planning of the new high school, and during that time the district chose to implement the New Technology Network model in which students interact with local industry and serve internships and which emphasizes interdisciplinary study. Heck remained as the Bonsall High School principal for the first 6 1/2 months of the school's first actual year in operation before Fleming took over in March 2015.

Fleming had been the New Technology Network director of new school development prior to accepting the position as the Bonsall High School principal, and she was originally hired by the New Technology Network as a senior school development coach in 2006. Fleming led Bonsall High School through the first graduation.

"That was the work I kind of set out to do," said Fleming. "The timing was good. I felt like they were ready for a leadership transition."

Samueli Academy has an enrollment of 530 students. It currently includes only the four high school grades, but the addition of a middle school is in the near-term plans. Fleming expects her experience with Bonsall High School beginning tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades to be of use as Samueli Academy expands.

"You learn something new in every job you have," said Fleming. "I am very grateful for what I learned from Bonsall."

Fleming has four children. The oldest graduated from Fallbrook High School before Bonsall High School had seniors. She also has a 2018-19 senior, a 2018-19 freshman, and a 2018-19 fifth-grader. Fleming, who lived in Fallbrook when she was the Bonsall High School principal, has moved to Anaheim.

"I love the Bonsall community so much," Fleming said.

"The staff and the parents and students very much appreciated her dedication and commitment to developing the project-based learning at the school," Jones said. "That served the beginning steps of the school very well."

"They've got a good foundation," said Fowler. "I'm just hoping to be able to take that to the next level."

Jones, Whiddon, district director of student services Julie Hong, Sullivan principal Joseph Clevenger, and representatives from the district's classified employees and certificated employees participated in the selection process for Fleming's replacement. Two finalists were chosen and Fowler was the ultimate choice.

"I think he will also bring high expectations and structure," Jones said. "He has a clear vision and high expectations."

Fowler had previously been the principal at Nuview Bridge Academy in Nuevo.

"It's not just charter experience," Fowler said.

Fowler attended Goddard High School in Roswell, New Mexico, and received a bachelor's degree in anthropology from New Mexico State University. He received two master's degrees from New Mexico State; the first was in archeology and anthropology and the second was in education.

Fowler taught in New Mexico for a year before joining the Palm Springs Unified School District staff. His honors with the Palm Springs district included district teacher of the year and California Continuation Association teacher of the year.

This is Fowler's 20th year in education. He spent 12 years with Nuview Bridge Academy, beginning as a teacher/dean before becoming an assistant principal and then the principal.

Nuview Bridge, which is for students from ninth through twelfth grades, had approximately 225 students when Fowler joined the faculty and about 650 students during the 2017-18 school year.

"I've kind of had some experience with seeing schools grow," Fowler said.

Although Bonsall High School now has all four grades, residential development within the district boundaries is expected to increase enrollment in the near future.

"I think that the foundation of any school is starting culture," Fowler said. "Doing that now is a lot easier than waiting until 10, 15 years from now when the school is 1,200 kids or 2,000 kids. As we grow it will be easier to incorporate the growth."

Fowler obtained a doctorate degree in education from Argosy University. His doctoral dissertation was on early and middle college programs.

"I made a lot of connections," Fowler said. "I think I can bring that to the table."

Bonsall High School has a dual credit program in which students receive both high school and college credit for courses taught on campus by Palomar College instructors. That is different than the early college and middle college programs for high school students.

"They're all different ways high school students can receive college credit," Fowler said.

Fowler will also work to grow Bonsall High School's athletics and other extracurricular activities.

"I look forward to making Bonsall kind of a full-service program," he said.

"He is going to do that in a very collaborative and respectable manner," Jones said. "I think his style and approach will be well-received by the community."

Fowler and his wife have three sons, all of whom are Nuview Bridge graduates. He also has a grandson from his 24-year-old son. His 20-year-old son is a plant genetics major at New Mexico State University and his 18-year-old son is a computer engineering major at Arizona State University. He currently lives in Nuevo but plans to move to Bonsall once he finds a suitable residence.

"It's just my honor to serve the community, and I look forward to getting to know the people," Fowler said.

Author Bio

Joe Naiman, Writer

Joe Naiman has been writing for the Village News since 2001

 

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