New Principals and Administrators

New Principals and Administrators
welcome matAt our middle schools
In the District Office

We are happy to announce a new principal and new assistant principals at our middle schools for next year, and we are excited to see all that they will accomplish for the benefit of our students.

At our middle schools:

Annie Flores-AikeyAnnie Flores-Aikey will be the principal at Crittenden Middle School. She will join new Assistant Principal Danielle Lyons on the Crittenden team. 

Ms. Flores-Aikey is an experienced middle school principal. She has served as the principal at Carquinez Middle School (Rodeo) and assistant principal at Canyon Middle School (Castro Valley). While she was at Canyon, the school was named a Distinguished School and re-designated as a National Model Middle School. She also was the principal at Cabrillo Elementary School (Pacifica). Her work has included restorative practices, discipline, and cultural sensitivity.

She has taught middle school in the Oak Grove Elementary School District and at Silverado Middle School (Napa), as well as fourth grade in the Greenfield Unified School District. She has a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley and master’s degree from Sonoma State University. She has been named a National Board Certified Teacher.

Danielle LyonsDanielle Lyons, currently an instructional coach at Stevenson Elementary, will be the new assistant principal at Crittenden Middle School. Ms. Lyons has taught for 10 years; six of those years at Stevenson Elementary. She is known for being a collaborative and dedicated instructional leader. She has earned a M.S. in Educational Technology from Central Connecticut State University, a B.S in Elementary Education K-6, and a B.A in Theater from Southern Connecticut University.

She replaces current Crittenden Middle School assistant principal Jackee Keirns who will be Mariano Castro Elementary’s new principal next year. 


Julie ThompsonJulie Thompson will be a new assistant principal at Graham Middle School. She joins Principal Heidi Galassi and new Assistant Principal Michael Kim-Stevens on the Graham team.

Ms. Thompson has 14 years of administrative experience. Most recently, she has served as assistant principal and principal in the Redwood City School District. She has also served as Director of Human Resources for the Campbell Union High School District, and as an assistant principal in the San Mateo Union High School District and in the Hayward Unified School District. 

Ms. Thompson has bilingual education experience as a Spanish/bilingual resource teacher in the Sequoia Union High School District, a bilingual teacher in the Ravenswood School District, as well as an English learner program manager. She taught in Quito, Ecuador, for four years. She has a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from UC Davis, a master’s degree in education from San Francisco State University, and a master’s degree in educational leadership from UC Berkeley.

Michael Kim-StevensMichael Kim-Stevens will be the new assistant principal at Graham Middle School.

He has taught a variety of middle and high school courses over ten years.  He most recently was the Director of Innovation at the Almaden Country Day School. He has taught STEM classes at San Jose Unified School District and Leland High School. He has also worked as a Science Subject Specialist in Ningbo, China. Mr. Kim-Stevens earned an M.A. in Education from Stanford University and B.A. in Applied Physics from UC Santa Cruz. 

He replaces Patricia Leonard who will be moving to MVWSD’s District Office as Special Education Coordinator.



In the district office


MVWSD announces several staffing changes at the District level in important programs that support students and staff members.

Karin JinboKarin Jinbo, most recently the Director of Health and Wellness, will be the new Director of Student Support Services and Special Education overseeing both special education and health and wellness.

Ms. Jinbo has 20+ years of experience in education; primarily in Special Education. She has served as Special Education Coordinator, Mental Health in the Santa Ana Unified School District, and as Coordinator for Special Education, Behavioral Health in the Novato Unified School District. She has also worked as a SELPA program coordinator at the Solano County Office of Education and as a school psychologist in the Monrovia Unified School District. She has a master’s in legal studies from Arizona State University, a master’s from Azusa Pacific University, and a master’s in education and bachelor’s of science from the University of Connecticut.

Acantha Ellard, who recently served as Director of Special Education, has resigned for personal reasons. We greatly appreciate her service to our students and wish her the very best in her new endeavors.

Brian White
Brian White will be the new Coordinator of Health and Wellness. His expertise will be valuable as MVWSD works to provide increased academic and social-emotional support to students. His focus will be on programs that improve instruction for students based on their individual academic and social-emotional needs, such as Response to Instruction (RTI) and social-emotional learning.
Mr. White has been an elementary principal in the Saratoga Union School District (Saratoga Elementary and Foothill Elementary) for six years. There, he led the initiative to establish Positive Behavioral Intervention Supports and spearheaded the site-level work of organizing Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports. He has served as assistant principal at Kennedy Middle School (Cupertino Union) and as Special Education Program Specialist with the Anaheim Union High School District. He has been a middle school special education teacher in the Los Angeles area. He has a master’s degree in special education from Chapman University and a bachelor’s degree from Hope International University. 

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