PUSD Names Principals at Don Benito, Hamilton, and Loma Alta Schools

Pasadena Unified School District Superintendent Edwin Diaz this week announced that he has named new principals at Don Benito Fundamental School, Hamilton Elementary, and Loma Alta Elementary, and an administrator at the Oak Knoll Center.

Julianne S. Reynoso has been named principal of Don Benito Fundamental School, which serves approximately 740 students. She has coordinated the acclaimed Pasadena Math Pipeline, a professional development program for PUSD math teachers, since 2007. Prior to that, she was principal of Don Benito for the 2004-05 school year.  She previously was a Curriculum Resource Teacher at PUSD’s Franklin Elementary School and an elementary school teacher in PUSD for eight years. Ms. Reynoso has a Bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University, a Master’s degree in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College, and an Administrative credential from Azusa Pacific University.

Frances Weissenberger has been named principal of Hamilton Elementary School. An adjunct professor of Elementary Curriculum and Literacy at Mount Saint Mary’s College in Los Angeles since 2007, Ms.Weissenberger has worked as an Elementary Literacy Specialist, Literacy Content Expert, Literacy Coach and elementary school teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District since 1987. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from California State University, Los Angeles, a Master’s degree in educational administration from California State University, Northridge, and a preliminary administrative credential from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Eric Sahakian has been named principal of Loma Alta Elementary School. He has been a program coordinator at the L.A. County Office of Education since 2007. Previously, he served as assistant principal at Toll Middle School in the Glendale Unified School District (GUSD) from 2002-07, head counselor at Hoover High School in GUSD from 1997-2002, and a counselor at the L.A. County Office of Education from 1995-97. Mr. Sahakian holds a Bachelor’s degree from CSUN, a Master’s degree in Psychology with a pupil personnel credential, and an administrative credential from CSULA. He is currently a doctoral candidate at CSULA.

Superintendent Diaz also named Jamie Munro as administrator of the Oak Knoll Center Day Treatment Program, which helps students with special needs transition to mainstream campuses. Ms. Munro has been coordinator of PUSD’s Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment and Teacher Recruitment since July 2008 and a teacher-specialist in Human Resources since 2004. She was previously a magnet school technology teacher at Willard Elementary and a special education teacher at Don Benito, Linda Vista, Jefferson and Webster. Ms. Munro holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara, a credential in special education from CSUN, and a Master’s in Educational Administration from CSULA.

“Ms. Reynoso, Ms. Weissenberger, Mr. Sahakian, and Ms. Munro bring expertise, innovation and strong leadership to our schools,” said Superintendent Diaz. “We are pleased to welcome them as we continue to accelerate student achievement in our district.”