Several new leaders have been selected to take the reins next year at two Pleasanton schools.
At its regular meeting Tuesday night, the Pleasanton school board announced that current Pleasanton Middle School vice principal Mike O’Brien is stepping in as the new principal of Vintage Hills Elementary School, and two other people will share responsibilities as vice principals at Amador Valley High School.
O’Brien will take the place of outgoing Vintage Hills principal Ann Jayne, who has been on a leave of absence for unspecified reasons since early March and officially resigns in late June. Vice principal Leslie Navarrette has been acting principal at Vintage Hills since Jayne’s leave.
A veteran of the Pleasanton Unified School District for the past 21 years, O’Brien taught at Donlon and Hearst elementary schools for nearly two decades before moving four years ago to PMS, and said he’s “looking to open, positive and exciting communications” with the campus.
After O’Brien’s departure, Pleasanton Middle School will have all new leadership when school starts in August. Principal Jill Butler recently announced her retirement at the end of next month after heading Pleasanton Middle School for more than three years. Joe Nguyen, a former middle school teacher and current principal at Iron Horse Middle School in San Ramon, was hired several weeks ago to take over Butler’s position, starting July 1.
Pleasanton Unified School District has not found anyone yet to replace O’Brien at PMS, but PUSD spokesperson Patrick Gannon told the Weekly that the district will use the same recruitment process as before to find a suitable candidate. PUSD is aiming to hire a new vice principal at Pleasanton Middle School before the start of the 2019-20 school year.
The search continues for a new principal at Amador Valley, but the board Tuesday appointed two educators for the position of vice principal. Junior Yee, a social studies teacher at Amador Valley, and newcomer Jamie Mather, a teacher at Miramonte High School in Orinda, will split their duties on the Amador Valley campus when the new school year starts.
