Mountain Peak Charter School, the new school rising from the ashes of Eagles Peak Charter School, now has a leader.

Earlier this month, the school's newly formed board of directors picked Martin Griffin, a former principal in Escondido and Pacific Palisades, to become the Vista-based school's first executive director.

Eagles Peak's board of directors had been looking for a new leader since firing their former director more than a year ago. Some officials with the now-defunct charter school started Mountain Peak earlier this year after Eagles Peak lost the charter it held for nearly a decade with the Julian Union High School District.

In total, 47 people applied for the job. The board interviewed 17 of them, Trustee Danielle Hooper said.

"It was a long, long, long process," she said, "but it was well worth it."

The board picked Griffin because he is detail-oriented and has vision, she said.

"He's going to provide choices in learning for the families," Hooper said. "That's what I like."

Griffin didn't return phone calls this week.

He most recently served as principal at Palisades Charter School. Before that, he worked for Escondido Union High School District, overseeing the district's learning centers and serving as principal at San Pasqual High School.

He started out as a teacher in the Grossmont High School District in La Mesa.

Mountain Peak is sponsored by Mountain Empire Unified School District, a small East County district.

Steve Van Zant, superintendent of the 1,600-student district said he thinks the board picked a strong leader.

"He's just got a well-rounded background in education," he said.

With a new leader, sponsor, board and name, officials are calling it a brand new school, though it will have many of the same teachers, programs and students as Eagles Peak. The school will cater to parents who teach their children from home most of the week, serving nearly 700 students in San Diego, Riverside, Orange and Imperial counties with learning centers in Vista, Tustin and Chula Vista.

Charter schools are public schools that operate relatively independently from their sponsoring district, which provides oversight.

A few years ago, Eagles Peak was the area's largest charter school, with more than 2,000 students spread throughout San Diego, Riverside and Orange counties. Earlier this year, school officials agreed to transfer the independent study high school program to the National University Academy, a La Jolla-based charter school. Roughly 700 students followed the program.

Before losing its charter, Eagles Peak went through several tumultuous years, struggling with debt, lawsuits, declining enrollment, personnel issues, budget cuts, and a split of its operations that led to the creation of a separate charter school based in Riverside County.

Last year, trustees in Julian threatened to revoke the charter because they said they were concerned about the school's finances and complaints about a hostile work environment. In the end, the district and school agreed to part ways when the charter expired last month.

Call staff writer Stacy Brandt at 760-901-4009.