Bell High students
would assume that Mr. Balderas, the new principal, is new to the school, well
think again. Mr. Balderas actually started his career in Bell high School in
1997, 16 years ago, as a teacher.
He
has been principal for 14 out of the 16 years in the education branch, in
schools such as San Fernando Middle School, 28th Street Elementary School,
Fremont high School, and Bell High being the fourth.
The new principal
not only comes back with appreciation for the school but also with many ideas
to make Bell become a better school. The "main priority" is for the
school to go traditional, given the fact that Bell is the only high school in
the district that is still on a year round calendar. The only reason it hasn't
been done is because of the over population of the school.
He would also like
to open a gifted magnet within the Bell High campus to provide opportunities to
the gifted students. There are "500" gifted students with 2.8-3.1
GPA’s and they should be "acknowledged", he says. If the school did
open up this program it'd be the "only" gifted magnet and the
"jewel" of all of South East. Mr. Balderas finds it important to
"stay competitive" with all the schools around.
Mr. Balderas says he "loves the community and comes back with great appreciation." He is happy to be back and work with the "nicest students and parents.”
Comments:
Writing my news story was difficult because the principal is what you call ALWAYS busy. So it was hard to find the time to interview working with his and my own schedule. Definatelty not the best story I have written, there could have been more details and comments about how Mr. Balderas wants to bring change upon the school.
