FEATURED STORY
New principal has built a solid reputation
Ron Fisher will be the principal of Camarillo’s new Architecture, Construction and Engineering Charter High School when it opens in the fall. District officials said Fisher’s experience in the construction industry and as a school administrator made him uniquely qualified for the job. IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers
Ron Fisher, assistant principal of Adolfo Camarillo High, will become principal of a new charter school in Camarillo next month, district officials announced recently.
Fisher, who’s been at Camarillo High for nearly five years, will head Architecture, Construction and Engineering Charter High School, or ACE, expected to open in the Camarillo Airport next fall.
The school’s board of directors unanimously approved Fisher from a field of 48 applicants at the Nov. 19 meeting.
Roger Rice, president of the board of directors, said Fisher is the right person for the job because of his background as the owner of a construction firm and his reputation in the school district as a reliable professional.
"He’s a go-getter, and we have a lot of confidence he’s going to get this thing started on the right track," Rice said. "I think everybody knows if you want something done you go to Ron Fisher."
ACE is a partnership between educators and trade professionals. In June, the Oxnard Union High School District chartered the 10th-through-12th-grade high school.
The school’s mission is to prepare students for careers in architecture, drafting, engineering or construction management. The curricula will be project-based.
Fisher said earlier this week he hopes to reach students who might not do well with the traditional classroom approach and would enjoy hands-on learning.
"Not every student learns in the same way," said Fisher, who owned a construction firm in Oregon for eight years while putting himself through college. "Our hope is to turn out well-rounded students."
ACE graduates will meet the requirements needed to enter state universities. They can use the marketable skills they learn in high school to enter an apprenticeship or work to support a college education.
Rice said Fisher faces three major challenges in starting a school from the ground up. First, he’ll need to recruit 150 to 200 10th-grade students for the 201011 school year. That means speaking to school counselors, Chambers of Commerce, Rotary and other service clubs around the county to get the word out. The school will open to 11th- and 12th-graders in subsequent years.
Second, Fisher must help develop the curricula, a time-consuming and labor-intensive task, especially since everyone involved with the charter school won’t be satisfied with the status quo, Rice said.
Third, Fisher must hire the right people, building a strong team in lean times. He’s expected to begin hiring teachers in the spring.
"So everybody’s got to be outstanding," Rice said.
Recently the state approved a three-year $600,000 grant for the school. Rice expects the school to receive the first allocation of $250,000 in early January. That money will be used to pay Fisher’s salary, hire a lead teacher and buy supplies for the school.
Construction is under way to transform a former library for the county’s educators into the charter high school campus at 570 Airport Way in the Camarillo Airport. Fisher will set up an office in a small building there.
Article reprinted with permission of the
Camarillo Acorn.
by: Michelle Knight
Posted December 4, 2009
