SCHOOLS VETERAN HIRED AT VASQUEZ HIGH.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

ACTON - Veteran educator Sharon Millen said she isn't taking the helm at Vasquez High School expecting to know all the answers.

Named interim principal to succeed Steve Pinkston, who was reassigned to a classroom, she acknowledges that the transition might be a little rough.

``I am a person who wants to help that school build their team and you do that by letting people shine with the strengths and talents they have,'' Millen said Wednesday. ``The board and district have a vision for Vasquez. It's my role to continue to move toward that vision and goals.''

The Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School District board voted unanimously Tuesday night to hire Millen as a consultant from January through June 2005.

Superintendent Linda Wagner said that approximately 20 people were present for the public participation part of the meeting, and a few spoke out questioning the board's action in reassigning Pinkston, including the board's student representative, Bryan Sloane.

``I've worked elementary and junior high and done a lot of work through the administrator's association through secondary, as well as lobbied for schools kindergarten through college,'' Millen said in an interview. ``There are unique pieces to a secondary school, but there are also many pieces that are the same.''

``Every stakeholder needs to know they are a part of school's success,'' she continued. ``I've been assured that there is strong academic instruction in the classroom and the department (chairpersons) are in great shape as far as curriculum is concerned. And I have a lot of colleagues who will serve as instant resources.''

Millen said that she has learned that nearly every school district in the state has some sort of crisis situation, most of which can be solved when administrators, staff, students and the community work together.

``I have great respect for the leadership team at the Acton-Agua Dulce School District,'' she said. ``Dr. Wagner and the site administrators have the reputation of being skilled, hard-working, dedicated leaders. I'm excited to be back into the daily school routine.

``The smaller enrollment at Vasquez High School will give me the opportunity to get to know each of the important stakeholders of the school: teachers, support staff, students, parents and community members,'' she continued. ``It takes a total team bringing all talents and strengths together to provide all of the strands necessary for success.''

Millen has been in public education for 37 years, starting out as a teacher in Riverside and Palmdale for 18 years before becoming the principal of Castaic Elementary School in 1984 and opening Live Oak Elementary School in 1989. She moved to the Keppel Union School District in 1993, where she worked until 2001. She returned to the Santa Clarita Valley as a principal at Skyblue Mesa Elementary School in Canyon Country.

Millen retired from the Saugus Union School District in 2003 to care for her husband, who died earlier this year.

She also served as the chairwoman for the Association of California School Administrators state elementary schools committee, working with principals across the state and lobbying for the needs of schools in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.

Millen helped create the standards for California school leaders that are used here and as a model for other state standards.

Carol Rock, [phone]

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

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