Santa Clarita Valley History In Pictures
> NEWHALL SCHOOLS   > PEOPLE

Marc Winger: New Chief For Newhall Schools.



Click for more.

Dr. Marc Winger, the new superintendent of the Newhall School District, has commented that he has some "mighty big shoes to fill." Those would be the shoes of Dr. J. Michael McGrath, who was the superintendent of the elementary school district for the last 25 years. But Dr. Winger's shoes have seen a lot of distance themselves.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Winger grew up in the San Fernando Valley. His father and a sister still live in the valley, while another sister resides in New York. He graduated from Monroe High School in 1968, then went to UC Berkeley for his bachelor's degree, UC Santa Barbara for his teaching credential and UCLA for his doctorate.

Peachland Elementary School was Dr. Winger's first assignment. He taught third grade for five years, then put in another five years at Newhall Elementary. Winger left our valley to become principal at Thomas Edison Elementary School in Burbank.

When the position of director of curriculum opened at the Sulphur Springs Union School District in Canyon Country, Winger jumped at the chance to work beside a former Peachland co-worker, Dr. Robert Nolet, who was now superintendent.

"Sulphur Springs is a model of how technology should be," Winger says. "It has a great school board, great administrators and a supportive community."

When offered the position of superintendent of the Newhall district, he welcomed the opportunity to come home.

* * *

"I knew about the challenges coming in (to the Newhall School District)," Winger says. He has known some of the teachers in the district for 25 years. "I still feel that I could go out to dinner with them," he says.

Winger believes the biggest challenge will be growth and how to deal with it. "It's not necessarily new growth, although in Stevenson Ranch we'll see it," Winger says. "Older neighborhoods are starting to turn over and we are seeing young families move in."

Two new school sites are guaranteed in the Stevenson Ranch area, and Winger is pleased to have his consultant — Dr. McGrath — handling that area. Winger says his energy will go toward making a smooth transition to year-round multi-track schooling and is prepared to "deal with one family at a time" if that's what it takes to convince parents of the need for multi-track.

A bond issue still lurks in the background for the district, but Winger wants the school board and the community to be presented with a well-thought-out campaign.

* * *

Winger knows he still has much to learn — I recently observed him with a huge set of keys and a cheat-sheet identifying which ones go where — but managing the school district doesn't take up all of his time. He and his wife, Eileen, are busy raising two boys, Seth (who will be entering third grade) and Evan (a year away from kindergarten).

Dr. Winger seems comfortable in his new shoes, and the community supports him. We look forward to Dr. Winger leading the school district into the 21st Century.

 

Read more from the SCV School Beat with Patti Rasmussen.

 


NEWHALL SCHOOL DISTRICT LEADERSHIP

thumbnail

J. Michael McGrath
Supt. 1972-1997
Video Interview

Introducing Marc Winger 1997


thumbnail

Marc Winger
Supt. 1997-2015

thumbnail

Paul Cordeiro
Supt. 2015-2018

RETURN TO TOP ]   RETURN TO MAIN INDEX ]   PHOTO CREDITS ]   BIBLIOGRAPHY ]   BOOKS FOR SALE ]
SCVHistory.com is another service of SCVTV, a 501c3 Nonprofit • Site contents ©SCVTV
The site owner makes no assertions as to ownership of any original copyrights to digitized images. However, these images are intended for Personal or Research use only. Any other kind of use, including but not limited to commercial or scholarly publication in any medium or format, public exhibition, or use online or in a web site, may be subject to additional restrictions including but not limited to the copyrights held by parties other than the site owner. USERS ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE for determining the existence of such rights and for obtaining any permissions and/or paying associated fees necessary for the proposed use.
comments powered by Disqus