FUHSD hires new alternative schools principal, AP for Fallbrook High

During the Sept. 9 meeting of the Fallbrook Union High School District board of trustees, Superintendent Ilsa Garza-Gonzalez announced two new administrative hires for the district.

Michael Gray was hired as principal of Alternative Education at Ivy Continuation High School and Oasis Independent Study School, replacing Narciso Iglesias, Ph.D., who was named principal at Fallbrook Union High School in August.

Gray comes to the position having already worked with Garza-Gonzalez during their time at Jurupa Valley High School where Garza-Gonzalez was the principal and Gray was an assistant principal.

They also both worked at an alternative high school called The Learning Center where he supervised the expulsion school and adult education.

He first came to Jurupa Valley in 2009 and later worked at Patriot High School for a year before moving to The Learning Center.

Gray, who lives in Menifee, said he originally applied for the assistant principal job at Fallbrook High, but the conversation quickly moved to the alternative school’s principal position.

“Because there was so much change happening over the summer, the focus moved to this job,” Gray said. “I have been really thrilled about this place. Ivy is a wonderful little school that helps kids who are credit deficient. Oasis gives our students another way of learning and that is a wonderful group of students as well.”

He said he is excited about joining the staff.

“I really love both of the staff at each school,” Gray said. “They really care about their kids. This is just really a great place to be.”

Garza-Gonzalez also named Lauren Jones to be a new assistant principal at Fallbrook High School.

Jones previously served as an English teacher at the school and was an adviser for the school’s newspaper.

“I am very pleased to have both join the Fallbrook Union High School District administrative team,” Garza-Gonzalez said. “Lauren Jones brings with her firsthand knowledge of the community and the instructional focus of Fallbrook High School. Michael Gray has a passion for alternative programs and understands the role and importance of nontraditional instructional settings for our youth. Both have shown in their first month in the role of administrators at FUHSD that they are dedicated to creating opportunities for success for all of our students."

Also during the meeting, Dennis Johnson, auto technology instructor, talked about being a semifinalist for the 2019 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence.

Johnson said first prize is $100,000 for the school and the second prize is $50,000. The award is open to all public high schools in the United States, and Johnson is one of two dozen semifinalists.

The winner will be announced Oct. 24.

Jeff Pack can be reached by email at [email protected].