Pamela Ann Magee will take the helm at Palisades Charter High School on July 1 as the new principal and chief administrative officer. Magee, who has 24 years of experience in public education, has been principal of Culver City High School the past six years. ’Her passion for educating adolescents is perfectly aligned with the mission and vision of our charter, and her demonstrated successes and commitment to put students first make her the perfect leader for our school,’ wrote PaliHi board chair James Paleno to the school community on June 15. Magee will replace Interim Principal Marcia Haskin and Interim Executive Director Mike Smith, who both serve as heads of the school. In January, the board decided to consolidate their positions into one school leader. The board will hire support staff to help Magee cover the workload of the two positions. A year ago, the board began to search for a principal, hiring the UCLA School Management Program, a third-party consulting firm, for a cost not to exceed $33,000. So far, PaliHi has paid $26,000 to the consultants, but has not received all the invoices, Chief Business Officer Greg Wood told the Palisadian-Post last Friday. The UCLA School Management Program team met with stakeholders and helped the school community ‘to define the position and to identify the desired experience and personal characteristics of our new academic leader,’ Paleno said. On March 2, the board hired the Cosca Group for $19,000 to recruit qualified candidates and help with the interviewing process. Members of the board visited Culver City High, which has about 2,260 students (compared to about 2,820 at PaliHi), and met with Magee’s superintendent, assistant principals and a number of her staff members. ’It became apparent to our entire team that Magee is an exceptional educational leader who enjoys the respect, admiration and genuine affection of her team,’ Paleno wrote. According to Paleno, ‘Magee successfully led the high school through the Western Association of Schools and Colleges accreditation process to receive a six-year clear term. This year, the school was re-designated as a California Distinguished High School due to all student groups meeting achievement goals and the noticeable decrease in achievement discrepancies.’ The Culver City Unified School District was recognized as an Advanced Placement Honor District because more Culver High School students are taking AP classes and earning passing scores or higher. ’As a result of the school’s continued academic growth, Magee and a team from her school were invited to present best practices for closing the achievement gap at a statewide conference hosted by the Association of California School Administrators and Total School Solutions, Inc.,’ Paleno said. Culver City High’s latest Academic Performance Index (API) score was 804, compared to PaliHi’s score of 818. However, Culver City’s African Americans, Filipinos, Hispanics/Latinos, socio-economically disadvantaged, English learners and students with disabilities outperformed students in these same subgroups at PaliHi. API is a state standard that measures every public school’s progress from year to year, and it is based on test results from the Standardized Testing and Reporting program (STAR) and the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE). Before coming to Culver City, Magee served as assistant principal at Oak Park High School in Ventura County and assistant principal and activities director at Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach. She taught English at Forest Park High School in Forest Park, Georgia, and at Mira Costa High. Magee, a native of Mississippi, earned a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Mississippi at Oxford, a master’s degree in English from the University of Mississippi at Hattiesburg, a master’s degree in educational administration from Cal State Dominguez Hills and a doctorate in educational leadership from UCLA. She lives in Santa Monica with her husband, Alex Anderson, a director of commercials. The community welcomed Magee during an on-campus open house at 5 p.m. on Monday, following a meet-and-greet with the teachers at 3:30 p.m. ’I’m excited for this evening,’ Paleno told parents and community members, ‘because I think it will be the start of a process of building a team that will help our students become even more successful.’ Magee added, ‘I have always thought this would be a fabulous place to work. I look forward to meeting with you and hearing your perspective. Don’t hesitate to call, or to send me an e-mail (pmagee@palihigh.org).’
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