After three years spent leading students and staff at Santa Maria High School, principal Craig Huseth has announced it’s time to “pass the reigns to someone else” come June.
“It’s something I’ve gone back and forth with for a while,” Huseth told the Sun in a recent interview. “We’ve done so well in the past three years with student achievement, and I know we’re going to continue in that direction.”
The achievement Huseth speaks of is apparent: Since he took over as principal, the school’s Academic Performance Index (API) score has jumped 50 points from 626 to 676. Implementation of a Quality Education Investment Act grant in 2007 has decreased class sizes to approximately 22 to 23 students per core class. Also, under Huseth’s leadership, the school now has one counselor for every 300 students (that’s seven counselors total).
“The purpose of the grant is to take a look at the school’s practices and increase student achievement through reform,” Huseth said, adding that the grant kicked off a transformational period for the school.
Another big project in the works is the school’s new freshmen academy. The program teams English teachers with math and science teachers throughout the year to improve their students’ attendance, study skills, behavior, and academic progress.
So far, the academy has proved promising: Huseth said the attendance rate for students in the program is about 1.5 percent above that of their freshman counterparts. Approximately half of the school’s freshmen were randomly selected to participate in the academy at the beginning of the year. Huseth said the school plans to assess the students’ GPAs at the end of this year.
When asked about the source of the school’s success, the long-time educator said he certainly isn’t the only one worthy of praise.
“The teachers in the classrooms are doing a great job. Our guidance technicians are putting our students in the right classes,” he said. “All of us working together as a team has really changed the direction of the school. I think we’re at the point right now to just take off in terms of student achievement.”
That team will have a new member—and leader—in the form of Joe Domigues, a school administrator from Soledad and a Santa Maria High School alum.
“He’s one of many former students we have working at Santa Maria High School who want to return to the school and give back to the community,” Huseth said. “I think he’ll do a good job of keeping the school’s positive movement going. … He knows the kids, he knows the community, and he has all the requisite knowledge and skills [to lead the school].”
Huseth first came to Santa Maria Joint Union High School District in 1975. He worked as an English teacher, coach, and eventually counselor at Delta High School. He also led the school’s outdoor education program and took students on backpacking trips in Big Sur. He spent 12 years as an assistant principal at Santa Maria High School before returning to Delta to serve as principal for four years. He became principal of Santa Maria High School in 2007.
Once he retires, Huseth said he plans to spend time working on his property.
“I’ve kind of let that get out of control. I grow really healthy weeds and fat gophers. So, I need to take care of that,” he said.
He also plans to travel—he’s already scheduled a trip to Spain this summer—and volunteer at Oso Flaco Lake.
“Beyond that, I haven’t really put much thought to it,” he said.
This article appears in May 20-27, 2010.