Principals are by far the most prominent figures at schools. So, it goes without saying that when a school gets a new principal it’s a big deal.

If you’re a senior, then you’ve had the opportunity of having three principals in a four-year period. Over the summer when it was announced many people were left asking themselves, “What’s next?” The CIHS Twitter broke the news for most students, publicizing that we would have a new principal for the 2018-2019 school year by the name of Mr. Roger Adams.

Before taking the post of principal at CI, Mr. Adams was the principal of the newest high school in the district, Rancho Campana High School located in Camarillo. One of his colleagues at RCHS was Mrs. Sarah Eglitis, former CI English teacher.

“I think Mr. Adams is going to bring a positive school climate to the Islands. He is strong, but kind, making him someone that students and staff trust,” Ms. Eglitis said.

“When there’s trust, people feel safe. When people feel safe, they can enjoy coming to work and school. His support of students’ ideas and passions will bring a new level of creativity being shown on campus,” Eglitis added.

Adams was born and raised in Oxnard. He graduated from Oxnard High School in 1991 and attended college at UC Irvine where he majored in Molecular Biology.

His passion for science led him to tutor local kids the Santa Ana area. This tutoring opportunity led him to discover his passion for teaching. After fulfilling his teaching passions, Mr. Adams decided to aggrandize his goal for serving and supporting students by pursuing a role in administration. When a post as principal for Channel Islands opened up, Mr. Adams couldn’t turn it down.

“Nothing against Rancho Campana, they have a great community and a great school atmosphere, but CI feels like home. The students, staff, and families of Channel Islands are people who I can relate to,” said Mr. Adams when asked about what drew him to CI.

The switch between schools for Adams is significant to say the least. The demographics and location are two big differences between both schools. The percentage of Hispanics at Channel Islands is on par with the percentage of Caucasians at Rancho Campana. RCHS being in Camarillo holds a big difference between South Oxnard where CI is situated. Despite the dissimilarities that are present, Mr. Adams makes no difference.

“Rancho’s test scores are very high and Channel Islands scores are not exactly where we would like them to be. Some people try to validate the difference in performance due to economic status or other factors, but, students here at CI have the potential of performing at the same level as kids from Rancho. My expectations are the same regardless” said Mr. Adams when asked about expectations for CI students.

Mr. Adams’ sees himself at the Islands for at least 5 years — he said it takes at least 3 years to see genuine progress happen — but ideally, he would like to finish out his career here at CI.