New principal starts at LCC

By: BEN FRUMIN - Staff Writer | Tuesday, January 4, 2005 11:39 PM PST ∞

CARLSBAD ---- Steve Levy wants to get to know La Costa Canyon High School's 251 employees and 2,762 students. "You don't lead by being a shadow," Levy said Tuesday morning in an interview in his new office.

Levy, who took over as interim principal of the Carlsbad campus Tuesday, replaced Margie Bulkin, a 20-year district employee who had been at the helm of La Costa Canyon since 2002.

Bulkin started Monday as the 12,000-student San Dieguito Union High School District's executive director of curriculum and instruction, a job in which she will analyze standardized test scores and use that information to modify classroom instruction.

Levy, an education veteran with more than three decades of experience, served as the assistant principal of San Dieguito's adult school for 18 months before moving to La Costa Canyon, the award-winning district's second-largest campus.

Levy said one of his primary tasks at the Carlsbad high school will be to develop personal relationships with students and staff members, and earn their respect and trust through interaction.

"You never become the leader until everyone believes in you," he said.

To get started, Levy visited 114 classrooms with Bulkin during a four-hour swing through campus in December, before students left for a 17-day winter recess. The new principal said the tour left him with a sense of just how big the campus is.

Some students said before school Tuesday that they appreciated Levy's cameo in their classroom.

"He seems nice, and I hope he does well," said ninth-grader Delilah Paskowitz.

Levy said he spent several days reading accreditation documents and meeting minutes in his new office while students were on holiday, trying to get a sense of what issues are important to students and staff and what sort of questions he should ask them.

"The train has left the station," he said. "It is in full locomotion, and I'm running to catch up."

Several school employees said Levy is up to the challenge.

"I don't think there's anything here he can't handle," said Diane Spiegel, Levy's administrative assistant.

Levy served as a teacher, counselor, assistant principal and athletic director at several campuses in the Poway Unified School District from 1973 to 1992. He then moved to the Ramona Unified School District, where he spent three years as a middle school principal and two as principal of a continuation high school.

Levy, who has a master's degree in educational counseling, has also been a partner in a private consulting firm and an adjunct professor at Cal State San Marcos.

The interim principal has been with San Dieguito since July 2003, when he signed on as an adult school administrator. He received a salary of $83,835 at the adult school ---- a figure that will jump to $119,967 in his new role, though Levy will also work more hours and have his school year increase by 20 days.

Though Levy is passionate about, and proud of, his work at the adult school, he said he is excited to be back at a traditional high school, where "you're always on the clock."

"I am thrilled at the opportunity," he said.

Contact staff writer Ben Frumin at (760) 943-2313 or bfrumin@nctimes.com.

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