In honor of Alisal’s 60th Anniversary, this is the 13th in an ongoing series of staff/alumni profiles.

The foundation of a school begins and ends with the staff and resources that make up the academic environment. A big role in the team of people who make up a school includes the role of a principal. 

The principal is necessary to bring order and a voice for their students, campus, and staff. Christina Perez represents Alisal as its principal, and as someone who shows her passion for what she does and carries that voice for all who are a part of Alisal High. 

Perez is a graduate of the Class of 1990. As a student, she most enjoyed the school spirit and activities that were offered at this time. “There was a lot of fun things to do, a lot of activities and everyone got along. I felt like it was a good time to grow up and be a student.” she said.

She loved being involved with her school and school activities, playing sports such as volleyball and softball or being a part of clubs/programs. 

A certain program she was involved in was a foreign exchange program which fundraised for her to travel to Japan for two months during one of her high school summers. “There would be students from Japan that would come here, and then we would switch and go over there.”

After graduating, she attended Hartnell, Chapman University, and Sacramento State, while majoring in social studies.

Before becoming a principal, she taught social studies and AVID for 12 years. She taught both middle and high school AVID, starting at El Sausal Middle School, then transferring to Alisal. “The nice thing is that not only did I come here, but I was able to teach here,” she said.

Around 2004-2005, a group of her co-workers, who were also Alisal alumni – Mr. Garcia, Dr. Gutierrez, Mrs. Ward, Mrs. Huerta, and herself – made the decision to return to campus to build and improve on a school they already loved attending. “[I thought] I might as well come and start working here, and support what was already going on and then to just keep making it better,” she said. “To be able to know people and be able to be here and make it a good school that parents want to send their children to has been great.”

In 2007, she received her master’s in educational leadership, which allowed her to work as an administrator. She then transitioned to becoming an assistant principal at Alisal for around 12 years. 

As an assistant principal she worked on the 9th grade houses along with almost any other task she was able to do at this position. 

Despite the numerous changes in positions or career paths, Perez feels that her mindset and determination is what truly keeps her reaching for more and not fearing change. “No matter whatever programs or whatever I oversee and am in charge of, I remind myself I want to make it the best and this is the best because our kids deserve the best because they are the best.” she said.

Perez first decided she wanted to become a principal when she was recommended for the job by a co-worker. “I wanted to be able to exponentially help,” she said. 

She said that though as a teacher she was able to help her students, as a principal she is able to not only provide support for students but for their teachers and staff that build the programs and environment that make Alisal High.  

After serving as an assistant principal for 5 years, she got an opportunity to be the principal at La Paz Middle School in 2017. She feels that starting at a smaller school allowed her to truly prepare for what being in charge of a high school would take. “As a principal you see the whole of the school, so it allowed me to come back and have a perspective about understanding the whole of a school before I transitioned into the principal job here,” she said.

She was the principal for one year and came back to Alisal to continue being an assistant principal. “I preferred being here than La Paz because I got used to the pace of high school and I was also able to be with the kids for a longer period of time,” Perez said. She returned to Alisal and became only the second female principal in Alisal’s history.

While working at Alisal, she has needed to work with former teachers who once taught her. She feels that this experience wasn’t out of the ordinary and has been nice as she didn’t jump straight from student to principal, but was able to be a colleague first. 

“What a great feeling it is to be able to be here with people that have a shared common love for the school and the community,” she said. 

Since being a student here, Perez feels that there are both changes and things that have stayed the same within the school. What she feels has stayed the same is the school culture and traditions, such as the Trojan Yell and the sense of pride of being an Alisal graduate. “I can go anywhere and people will be proud of their graduating class at Alisal,” she said. 

What she feels has changed is the improvements in our school’s academics as well as the aesthetics of the school and making sure everything a student needs is provided here at Alisal. 

She feels the most rewarding and special part of her whole Alisal experience and being able to be a part of the Alisal staff is the sense of pride, community, and family that the whole environment shows. “Theres nothing better than the community, the kids, and the families. They’re so supportive and kind that there’s no place else I’d rather be.” she said.

From staff to students to parents, Perez feels it is so special to be able to have the trust and support from those around herself to take care of and do what’s best for students. “Even when I go and meet with a parent they are super supportive and they trust us, they trust us to do the best with their children every single day, to me that’s the biggest thing you could trust someone with,” she said.