New Faces at CI: Mr. Chris Ramirez

New+Faces+at+CI%3A+Mr.+Chris+Ramirez

It is uncommon to be a witness to the long journey of a student transitioning from a child to a young adult. However, for Mr. David Christopher Ramirez, Channel Islands High School’s new assistant principal, it has been nothing short of a real-life documentary.

Mr. Ramirez recently transitioned from being the vice principal at Ocean View Junior High School to an assistant principal here at the Islands.

As a matter of fact, before even going on the path of administration, he worked as a physical education teacher for the Ocean View School District from 2007-2013.

On a more personal level, Mr. Ramirez is from the San Fernando Valley and is now happily married to another educator who is in fact a CI alumna. They have two children.

Something interesting about Ramirez is that he was once a child actor and a couple years ago he was a successful bodybuilder. Aside from his random history, his pride comes from being an educator.

He has a certain philosophy that he says his father passed down to him: “Two things in life: get an education, or if you’re going to work then you better kick butt in it.” Mr. Ramirez has held this philosophy very close throughout all his jobs.

Not only does he bring his charisma and hard work to our campus, but his past students are excited to have him back.

Alejandra Orozco, a senior, expresses that she has “been there to see Mr. Ramirez’s school-wide success — from being a physical education teacher to a vice-principal at a middle school and then an assistant principal here at CI; he has shown that anything can be achieved. For this, he is a role model and a dedicated man that many admire.”

Likewise, Mr. Ramirez feels “a good connection with (former students) because I’ve seen them grow, some from kindergarten to now.”

He is beyond proud and has an inexplicable feeling as to how amazing his former students have become.

He is very excited to begin his new journey here at the Islands because “the staff are really welcoming, it literally felt like I had been working here for years… I like the environment, and everyone had this like ‘welcome to the Islands’ type of slogan,” says Ramirez.

It brings him pride and more motivation to do the same with his future students. He will “lead with his heart and I will basically give my all to be part of this community and I will go out of my way to make sure a kid is doing good,” says Ramirez.

He plans to bring his very caring and encouraging persona while also making plans to implement more team building and more student and community engagement in order to make sure all the student body is on the route to success.