Choir director leaves small schools behind in move to job at Churchill.

Byline: Anne Williams The Register-Guard

Al Villanueva, North Eugene High School's longtime choir and theater director, will leave after this year to take a similar job at Churchill High School - a blow to the North Eugene School of the Arts (NESA), one of three separate small schools set to supplant the larger school in the fall.

Villanueva, 49, has been key to the design and planning effort, and his program was envisioned as a cornerstone of the new school, which proposes to use the arts as a web to unite all areas of curriculum.

Villanueva said the decision to leave was a difficult one, and he regrets he won't be around to help with the transition.

At the same time, though, concerns about the possible constraints of the small-school model played into his decision. North Eugene's crowded course schedule already limits student access to electives such as choir and drama, he said, and he worries that the new structure - in which students will take all or most of their classes in just one of the three schools - may make it even more difficult.

"I don't feel certain about how that schedule is going to impact the kids across the North Eugene campus," he said. "I get a lot of assurance that there will be efforts (to ensure access to students who want his classes), but I'm not sure how it will work ... It's already an uphill battle to get kids here, and this throws in another level of un- certainty."

At the same time he was weighing those concerns, an opportunity arose with the pending retirement of Jim Steinberger, longtime choral director at both Churchill and South Eugene high schools. Villanueva began talking with administrators and teachers at both schools about possibilities, and formally accepted a full-time offer at Churchill on May 24.

"It's his retirement that's really been the catalyst," said Villanueva, whose own children attended Churchill.

He broke the news to his students the Friday before Memorial Day.

"There wasn't a lot of out and out anger, they just were sad, 'What a bummer' kind of thing,' " he said. "I said no matter what happens, I hope you're going to support the transition" to small schools.

Villanueva, who has been at North Eugene 14 years, said productions of "Jesus Christ Superstar," "Les Miserables" and "Children of a Lesser God" were among the highlights of his tenure. He said he's also proud of the success he had in helping to build connections between his program and North Eugene's two feeder middle schools.

Principal Peter Tromba said he and Villanueva have discussed his plans at length over the last few months, but Tromba - who is leaving North Eugene himself - felt he wasn't in a position to beg him to stay.

"One thing that's true is small schools are different than big schools, and in a big school like Churchill you can gather all of the choir students together and probably have a larger choir," said Tromba, who expects there may be a couple of students who opt to follow Villanueva to Churchill. "In a small school it's about using art as a powerful means to teach all of the kids. I think (Villanueva) just struggled with which way did he want to go."

He called Villanueva a "great innovator" who is unafraid to take on ambitious and occasionally controversial projects. In his classes, he said, Villanueva "creates an atmosphere you want to be a part of, you want to stay."

"It's kind of heartbreaking, and it's totally a big loss for North," Tromba said. "His guts and humanity are pretty amazing."

Villanueva said planning NESA has been exciting but difficult.

"I feel like there's been a lot of hard work and effort that everyone on the team has done," he said. "I don't think everyone was prepared for how huge it is."

Nonetheless, Villanueva said he's eager to watch what transpires at North Eugene.

"There's still some exciting creative things that are happening, and I'm looking forward to looking over and feeling some regret that I left," he said. "I want the best for North kids."

Tromba said he knows of no other teachers who are leaving North Eugene for reasons related to the transition to small schools.