A sad but distinguished farewell

Danette Goulet

COSTA MESA - She breathed new life into Killybrooke Elementary School,

but now she needs to do the same for her family.

After two years as principal of Killybrooke, Mary Ann Gilbreth is

returning to her hometown of Chicago to be near her family and care for

her sick husband.

A move to a position teaching education to undergraduate and graduate

students at Northpark University will allow her to do that, she said.

After working as a teacher and assistant principal during her 26-year

career in education, Gilbreth came to Killybrooke and the Newport-Mesa

Unified School District about two years ago.

“She’s done so much for our school with our virtue wall and really making

our school what it is,” said Joyce Christiansen, PTA president for the

last two years. “It was a diverse community where she pulled everyone

together.”

While almost feeling like she’s abandoning the school she has grown to

love, Gilbreth says she believes it’s the right move for her.

“I need family support -- it’s been a real struggle for the past three

years,” she said. “I feel like I’m letting them down, but I know they’ll

be just fine because it’s a wonderful staff.”

When she was offered the position at Northpark, she said it was a sign

that it was time to go.

It was the next step she wanted to take in her career and university

positions don’t come around often, she said.

But it is with a heavy heart that she leaves the school and community in

which she has become entrenched.

“I think I realized how wonderful this school is. Killybrooke is a hidden

gem,” she said. “The minute I came here, I knew it was special.”

As she said when Killybrooke was named a California Distinguished School

this year, Gilbreth feels the school’s strongest assets are the special

needs programs that came to campus the same year she did, and the

character education program, which she began this year.

But she said the school’s best quality is, of course, the staff and

students.

“This school is a little United Nations -- we have 15 different languages

at this school,” she said. “And how wonderful, because in the real world

people need to know how to work and play with all different types of

people.”

On her last day, the tearful goodbyes left no doubt as to how the school

community felt about her.

“She was so fabulous. She was just the greatest, most giving person,”

Christiansen said. “She really made my past two years the best I’ve ever

had with PTA. This will leave big empty spots in our hearts. She’s been a

true friend. She’s done so much for our school and our kids.”