Meet Rich Alderson, New Julian High School Superintendent
By Bobbi Zane

Rich Alderson, newly appointed superintendent of Julian Union High School District, follows the agenda at his first Board of Education meeting on Sept. 21. Photo by Bobbi Zane

Rich Alderson wants to make a difference.

That's what motivated the principal of Rancho Buena Vista High School in Vista to move to Julian to assume the dual job of principal and superintendent of the Julian Union High School District.

He's gone from running the largest high school in the county with more than 3,300 students to one of the smallest with fewer than 300 students.

Alderson, who was awarded a three-year contract with a base salary of $130,000 a year, took over the reins in Julian on Sept. 5.

The move has been quite a change and quite a challenge, he said.

"I want to have a real impact on kids' lives," Alderson said.

"I like the idea of knowing all the kids, the kids knowing all the adults, and the adults knowing all the kids. I think it avoids (students') sense of anonymity and raises their level of responsibility to be a good citizen," he explained.

Sign at the high school welcoming the new superintendent. Photo by Amber Ward

One of the first things Alderson plans to explore is an internship program for high school seniors in which they would attend classes part of the day and work as interns in businesses that interest them as potential careers.

Easier said than done in Julian, he said, as most businesses in the area are located some distance from Julian. Alderson said he was involved in a similar program at Rancho Buena Vista.

He also hopes to address declining enrollment. "I'd like to attract some of the students in the charter school back to Julian High School, " he said.

Alderson has been in education for more than 35 years, 18 of them as a classroom teacher. He also served as athletic director of El Toro High School in Orange County, as assistant principal at Potter Junior High in Fallbrook and assistant principal at Temecula Valley High School.

Julian Union High School. Photo by Amber Ward