More than 20 Orange County educational leaders and a nonprofit were celebrated this week at an awards ceremony for local members of the Association of California School Administrators.
Established in 1971, ACSA serves more than 17,000 California educators and annually spotlights top administrators at the regional and state levels.
ACSA’s Region 17 hosted the 29th annual Celebration of Excellence dinner on May 13 in a banquet room at the Irvine Marriott. One by one, honorees were invited to the stage to accept glass trophies and share a few remarks in front of their peers.
Joanne Culverhouse of the La Habra City School District — she’s in the photo, to the right — was among this year’s recipients, recognized in the superintendent category for Region 17.
Also honored were Ocean View School District Assistant Superintendent Felix Avila, Tustin Unified Assistant Superintendent Dr. Grant Litfin and Edison High School Assistant Principal Jason Ross, who, as we reported last month, earned state-level ACSA awards.
Here’s the full list of the 2019 Administrators of the Year for Region 17 from the program:
- Rich Montgomery, Tracy Gaffey Award, Capistrano Unified School District
- Mary Ann Alvarado, Confidential Employee, Centralia School District
- Felix Avila, Personnel/HR Administrator, Ocean View School District *
- Edward Bustamante, Secondary Principal, Santa Ana Unified School District
- Renae Bryant, Ed.D., Valuing Diversity, Anaheim Union High School District
- Joanne Culverhouse, Ed.D., Superintendent, La Habra City School District
- Yvonne Estling, Elementary Principal, Saddleback Valley Unified School District
- Grant Litfin, Ed.D., Career Technical Education, Tustin Unified School District *
- Ron Hoshi, Retired Administrator, Anaheim Union High School District
- Glenn Giokaris, Continuation/Educational Options, Saddleback Valley Unified School District
- Karen Knecht, Elementary Co-Administrator, Santa Ana Unified School District
- Randy Lempert, Middle Grades Principal, Ocean View School District
- Kristine Nelson, Student Services Orange Unified School District
- Orange County United Way, Partners for Educational Excellence, Anaheim Union High School District
- Debra Parker, Classified Champion Award, Cypress School District
- Ondrea Reed, Curriculum & Instruction Administrator, Los Alamitos Unified School District
- Elena Rodriguez, Central Office Administrator, Orange Unified School District
- Jennifer Root, Ed.D., Business Services Administrator, Anaheim Union High School District
- Jason Ross, Secondary Co-Administrator, Huntington Beach Union High School District *
- Briana Schnitzer, Technology Administrator, Savanna School District
- Natalie Tran, Ph.D., Professor of Education, Anaheim Union High School District
- Stacy Wheat, Special Education Administrator, Huntington Beach City School District
* Denotes the 2019 state ACSA winners