District’s new administrator has big plans
Jessica Garrison
NEWPORT-MESA -- Jaime Castellanos is so excited about heading up
the district’s secondary education department, he’s willing to drive more
than 150 miles every day just to get to and from work.
To do this, the district’s new assistant superintendent for secondary
education leaves his Ventura residence before 5 each morning, and returns
in the evening, after the traffic has lightened up.
Sometimes, if he’s done with his work, he’ll play a round of golf
before hopping back on the freeway.
Supt. Robert Barbot and school board president Serene Stokes said such
dedication is par for the course for Castellanos, who was a high school
principal in Ventura before taking the district’s top high school job.
“I think we were so lucky to get him,” Stokes said. “His talents for
working with people and his ability to see potential for programs are
just what we need.”
Castellanos is responsible for the day-to-day operations at all the
district’s high schools and middle schools. Principals answer to him, and
he has ultimate authority to settle problems and make sure students are
learning in a safe and stimulating environment.
Last week, for example, he visited all four high schools and met with
the PTAs and foundations. He also has met with war veterans to discuss
having them as guest speakers in district schools.
“I do a lot of facilitating,” he said, which includes putting the
right people in touch with the right group or helping them find out about
the right funding for the right program.
Castellanos also has set for himself the task of charting the
secondary schools’ courses as they adapt to the tremendous technological
and demographic changes that have swept through education in the last 10
years.
His top priorities, he said, are increasing technology in the
classroom, adapting to the district’s tremendous diversity, and finding
ways to integrate curriculum.
“More and more technology is coming into our society, it needs to be
an instructional tool in the classroom,” he said. “If we don’t do that,
then we’re not preparing kids for life when they leave the classroom.”
Castellanos, who is Latino but says he does not “make a big issue of
being Hispanic,” also said he wanted schools to do a better job of
addressing issues of diversity -- both in the curriculum and among
students, staff and parents.
“We cannot keep working the way we’ve been working ... with all the
ethnic groups and diverse groups we have in our schools,” he said.
He also wants teachers from different academic departments to work
more closely with each other to integrate curriculum.
“I’m a real firm believer in that,” he said. “U.S. history and
American literature. Teach ‘em together.”
Other perennial issues, said Castellanos, include staffing, students’
literacy, and addressing inevitable crises as they arise.
“There’s always room for improvement at all schools,” he said, noting
that he would like to see reading scores rise at Estancia and TeWinkle.
Castellanos said he still is trying to learn about all the
complexities of Newport-Mesa, which he said is different in culture and
outlook from the Ventura County high school he left behind.
“I’m just looking, listening and learning,” he said.
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