Veronica Valerio and Elizabeth Rhine have been appointed as the new principals of LeConte and Oxford elementary schools in Berkeley.
Valerio will replace Kathryn Singh, who is returning to Massachusetts for family needs, while Rhine is preceded by Jen Corn, who will transfer to Thousand Oaks Elementary School and oversee its bilingual program.
Donald Evans, the superintendent of Berkeley Unified School District since May, announced the appointments in letters addressed to the schools’ communities last week, praising both women’s aptitudes for their new positions.
Valerio will join LeConte Elementary School from the professional development department of the district, which she joined in 2011. Valerio’s career began with a position as a Spanish bilingual teacher in Oakland and San Leandro, and she continued on to assistant principal positions in elementary schools in Inglewood and Mt. Diablo districts. Before joining the Berkeley district, she coached principals and leadership teams as regional English language arts specialist in Oakland Unified School District.
“She is a well-known candidate who is very successful in leading,” said Neil Smith, assistant superintendent for educational services for the Berkeley school district. “She has great leadership potential.”
Valerio’s fluency in Spanish enhanced her candidacy, considering LeConte’s efforts to become a full two-way immersion school, Smith said. Students will be taught in both English and Spanish to foster a bilingual and multicultural environment.
“Veronica is incredibly strong in curriculum and instruction,” said Mary Buttler, director of human resources with the district. “She’ll bring a lot of knowledge and skills.”
Rhine was the principal of Crocker Highlands Elementary School for the past four years, where she was a “collaborative leader with a deep knowledge of pedagogical practices, curriculum, and grade-level standards,” according to Evans’ letter.
“Rhine brought a high trust factor, said Wendy Ghorai, PTA co-president at Crocker Highlands Elementary School. “The families and students’ needs were her first priority. Berkeley is very lucky to be getting such a great principal.”
Buttler commended the qualities of both principals, whom she met during the application process.
“Rhine has incredible personnel skills, strong collaboration with community, strong instructional background and evidence of solid leadership experience,” Buttler said. “Both women have wonderful personalities and senses of humor.”
Valerio and Rhine were selected following an application process involving two rounds of interview panels with parents, teachers and administrators of the school board.
“Berkeley is so fortunate,” Buttler said. “Every time we look for a new principal, we have a large number of candidates.”
The outgoing principals, Singh and Corn, have served at LeConte and Oxford for one year and two years, respectively. This fall, there will be five new principals in total in the Berkeley district, in addition to the new superintendent.
However, Smith said that he believes the changes in leadership would not pose any problems for either school.
“Berkeley is very fortunate to attract and retain effective principals,” Smith said.
Contact Somin Park at [email protected].