Medea Creek gets a new principal
By Sophia Fischer sfischer@theacorn.com

MOVING UP- Sycamore Canyon School Assistant Principal Brad Benioff is slated to become the new principal at Medea Creek Middle School in Oak Park. JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers

A new principal will take over at Oak Park's Medea Creek Middle School on July 1.

Brad Benioff, the assistant principal at Sycamore Canyon School in Newbury Park, has been hired to replace Laurel Ford, who is moving on to an Oak Park district position.

"It's amazing to be selected to work in Oak Park," Benioff said. "Everybody (other districts) always kind of measures up to Oak Park."

A committee of parents, teachers and administrators considered 20 candidates before choosing Benioff, according to Superintendent Tony Knight.

Benioff had many strong references from prior employers and coworkers, including a comment made by a mentor that Benioff "has a great heart for kids" that made an impression on the search committee, Knight said.

Prior to his job at Sycamore Canyon, Benioff worked as a dean of students at Thousand Oaks High School and as a social studies teacher and assistant principal at Agoura High School.

Benioff is a 1985 graduate of Agoura High School. He attended the University of California at Los Angeles where he earned a degree in political science.

He went on to California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks to obtain a Master of Arts degree in educational leadership.

He lives in Thousand Oaks with his wife Kristin, a Japanese teacher at Thousand Oaks High School, and their three children.

Benioff is proud of his accomplishments during four years at Sycamore Canyon, a K-8 grade school that numbers 1,250 students. Although he is the assistant principal for the entire school, Benioff's focus has been on creating the middle school, which had no buildings, facilities or programs. He helped develop the music program, electives, oversaw curricular issues, daytoday operations, discipline, attendance, special education, the parent/teacher association and school site council. There are now 16 middle school teachers and 400 middle school students at Sycamore.

"If there's anything I'm really proud of it's building a tremendous staff, including highquality teachers, people who truly care about the kids and who care about their success," Benioff said.

Benioff's first goal in his new job is to get to know the Medea Creek community- students, staff and parents.

"MCMS (Medea Creek) has a very high reputation of high academics, strong teachers and community support," Benioff said. "I really want to maintain that level of quality."

The goals Benioff worked toward at Sycamore are similar to what he'd like to bring to Medea Creek.

"I constantly look for new ways to improve, to help kids be prepared for the new world workforce and global economies and technologies, and to offer opportunities so that students are completely wellrounded," Benioff said.

After leading Medea Creek for 17 years, Ford will now be the district's director of instructional services. No other leadership changes are planned for Medea Creek, according to Knight. Medea Creek math teacher Nancy Kollander, who was on the search committee, praised Ford for her accomplishments and expressed excitement about Benioff.

"To grow you need change, you need to bring in new ideas," Kollander said. "Brad has a real presence and will do a good job for us."