After 12 years on the job, Principal Brian Ginter is leaving Rio this year to take a position at the district office. Ginter will transition into his new role as Director of Admissions and Family Services for all of San Juan Unified this spring.

“It’s bittersweet; I’ve made a lot of good relationships here with teachers,” Ginter said. “It’s definitely difficult, there’s a lot of friendships and things, and you won’t see those people as much anymore as you do on a daily basis.”

Ginter will remain on campus whenever students are on campus according to the hybrid learning model, but he will spend most afternoons at the district office to shadow Michele Flagler, who currently holds the position. He will also still work to coordinate the graduation ceremony and schedules for the next academic year before he leaves.

“In the job that I’m going to there’s a pretty big learning curve,” Ginter said. “I will be working with the person who is in that position right now, who will be retiring at the end of June, for the next three months to kind of learn that position and move into it.”

Main responsibilities of Ginter’s new job will fall under overseeing services provided by San Juan Central, the one-stop resource center providing families with assistance with enrollment and other services. Among these responsibilities include open enrollment, transitional kindergarten, intra/ interdistrict transfers, charter school renewals and student records.

“I’ve been in a school site pretty much my whole career,” Ginter said, referring to the 27 years he has worked in education. “For me, it was time for a different challenge. I’ve been a principal for 19 years and the requirements for the job I’m taking over I think I have a very strong skill set for.”

Ginter got his start in education as a teacher, instructing environmental science, physical science and agricultural education. From there he was a vice principal for three years and a principal for five years in Pennsylvania before moving to California and working at Rio.

“I enjoy it a lot, I like what I do here,” Ginter said, reflecting on his time at Rio. “I try to be as involved as I possibly can, I try to be very hands-on, doing things around campus. I’m going to miss that.”

Ginter is excited to work with families outside of the classroom setting, informing them of the different opportunities that the district can offer from charter school to ESL programs. 

“I’ll miss the interaction that I have with students,” Ginter said. “I won’t have as much of that as I had in the past, however I’ll be interacting with the community differently, I’ll be interacting with families differently.”

There will be a posting for Ginter’s position within the next few weeks. Staff and administrators already in the district will have priority, and then the search for a new principal will extend out of district. For now, whenever students are on campus, Ginter will be there to finish out his time at Rio in a rather unconventional year.