Desert Hot Springs High School to replace principal
MICHELLE MITCHELL • THE DESERT SUN • APRIL 9, 2010
Desert Hot Springs High School will have a new principal next year in response to its designation as one of California's “persistently lowest achieving” schools, the school district announced Thursday.
Anne Kalisek, principal of alternative education for Palm Springs Unified School District, will replace Milton Jones effective July 1.
Jones will take over Kalisek's position overseeing the district's alternative education program, which includes Mount San Jacinto Continuation School, Ramon Alternative Center, Desert Hot Springs Alternative Center and adult education.
“I'm going to miss Desert Hot Springs High School,” said Jones, the principal there for four years. “But I'm excited for the opportunity to move over to alternative education.”
Kalisek, who has been with the district for 21 years, said she wants to merge the individual focus on education she uses now with the needs of a larger campus.
“I think there's a lot of positive momentum, as I said, in the community and also in the school and everyone wants to see the students achieve,” she said.
The school has already made some changes, including a schedule change that would provide more instructional time starting next school year and hiring a dean of students to assist with discipline.
The 188 California public schools designated as the lowest achieving are required to choose