Burke ran day school in Nothern California town
SMMUSD HDQTRS The former principal of a school district in Wine Country is now at the helm of the smallest school in Santa Monica.
Brian Burke, who for three years headed the Harmony-Union School District’s elementary and middle schools, is now the teaching principal at the Community Day School, a one classroom-sized high school for students well behind in graduation credits.
The 62-year-old Northern Californian headed his way south to fill a vacancy left by former Principal Bill Himelright who left after one year to assume the role of coordi-nator of special education for the Beverly Hills Unified School District.
Though Burke has been on the job since Aug. 27, he will be formally appointed by the Board of Education tonight.
“Community Day School is... a small school where each student has an amazing story,” said Mike Matthews, the assistant superintendent for human resources. “We think Brian will make those stories much better with personal attention to those students.”
The Community Day School was established two years ago to give high school students a second chance at academic success as the majority of teenagers enroll for a variety of reasons from truancy to lack of motivation to learn. The school, with an enrollment of 28 students, is operated out of a room in the Santa Monica Police Activities League at the corner of Olympic Boulevard and 14th Street.
Prior to coming to the Harmony-Union School District, located in the west side of Sonoma County, Burke spent 30 years in the Round Valley Unified School District in Mendocino County, home of one of the largest Native American reservations in California. Approximately 80 percent of the students enrolled in the district are Native American.
Burke also ran a community day school in Round Valley, implementing a theater program that was widely popular among the school’s 15 students.
It’s a program that Burke hopes to start at the day school where the city boasts a rich arts and theater community.
He originally applied for the position of special education coordinator to be closer to his son and two grandchildren who all reside in Santa Monica.Instead,Burke was called back to be interviewed for the principal position.
Administrators found Burke attractive for the position because of his experience running schools and his background in special education.
“What I am most appreciative of is the fact that in talking to him and talking to his previous employers, he is a champion for students who had a hard time,” Matthews said.
Burke, who received his bachelor’s degree in English from UCLA and his master’s degrees in English and administration from San Francisco State University and Sonoma State University, said he intends to explore expanding programs for the students at CDS and try to find a permanent home for the school, something officials have been working on for quite some time.
“I am delighted to have the opportunity to work in this district and a program that has come such a long way (under Himelright),” Burke said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 6, 2007. Read the original PDF.