Two administrators have recently moved on from their positions at SJHHS to work in the district office: Charles Salter, former Assistant Principal of Discipline, and Rebecca Paulsen, former Library Technician.

Each shared their goodbyes with the rest of the staff prior to their leave. In a farewell email, Salter wrote to his colleagues:

“I just wanted to say thank you for the time we have spent together. I enjoyed working with you and developed some very positive relationships at SJHHS that I will always cherish,” he wrote.

“It’s always bittersweet when one leaves one place and goes to another, especially when you’re leaving a great group of people,” he added.

Salter’s departure presented the opportunity for a new staff member to be welcomed into the SJHHS family. Amy Varricchio now fills the position.

Prior to working at SJHHS, Varricchio was an AP Chemistry teacher at Tesoro. After twelve years of teaching, she stepped out to take an open position at the district office. It was here that she assisted in helping science teachers from over 20 middle and high schools adapt and transition to the next generation science standards, standards that can now be found in various science classrooms around the campus.

“My primary reason to come into teaching was to work with students and to support them in their pathway for their next career,” said Varricchio, excited to be back with students once again.

“My focus is keeping kids on the path of being successful and steering them in the right direction when they veer off of that pathway, and to see this wonderful school grow to be one of the best, not just in the district but in the county and the state of California. I’m a true believer that this school can make that happen.”

Varricchio is eager to meet the Stallions of SJHHS, and her office can be found within the Administration building.

Although Salter’s shoes may be filled, the Library Technician position, formerly held by Rebecca Paulsen, remains open.
Now working in the district office, Paulsen oversees the middle and high schools’ needs related to instructional materials, such as textbooks and technology.

“Truly, I will miss everything. It was a hard decision to leave,” said Paulsen.

She had been working with SJHHS since the summer of 2007, before its first school year ever began.

“Overall, my best memories of the students are the high energy pep rallies and dances. From the library, my best memory is the journey of building [it] from an empty room to a viable place for students to not only check out books, but use technology efficiently. And of course, all the regular students who visited the library. They were what made my day each day.”

Paulsen still has plans to maintain the relationships she made with those at SJHHS. “I love going to the different events at the school. From theater, chorale and music productions, sporting events, Comedy Sportz and of course dances. I will definitely be back for those.”

After volunteering as a librarian for her children’s elementary school years ago, Paulsen came to realize her passion for the books, leading her to a full career as a librarian. Now with her new position as the district office’s Instructional Materials Specialist, Paulsen is excited to work with each of the different schools and their libraries.