Dr. Jeff Wilson, who on Tuesday evening was hired as Superintendent of the San Marino Unified School District, displayed enough energy at the same board meeting where his contract was approved that it seemed he could have run the 4.3 miles between his last job and his next. With his wife, daughter and six of his fellow Arcadia administrators in attendance, Wilson was unanimously approved to become the SMUSD’s 14th superintendent since 1918 following a motion that was made by Board Member C. Joseph Chang, seconded by Chris Norgaard and approved by Shelley Ryan, Corey Barberie, President Lisa Link with an affirmative advisory vote by ASB Representative Alyssa Escamilla.
“This is a big night for our district,” said Link in introducing Wilson, who until June 30 will continue to serve as the Arcadia Unified School District’s assistant superintendent of educational services. On July 1, he will take over for Interim Superintendent Loren Kleinrock, who agreed to serve in that role when Dr. Alex Cherniss resigned in August 2018 to take a similar post with the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District.
But on Tuesday, it was all about San Marino, and Wilson seems pleased to be relocating to this end of Huntington Drive.
“This is such a blessing, such a blessing,” said Wilson. “There is so much support for the schools in this community. I can’t wait to get out with the PTAs and the Rotary Clubs. I am a people person and I loo forward to meeting all the members of my new family.”
Wilson said he hopes to “build on the district’s great arts, academics and activities and lead the district to even greater heights.” Before returning to his seat, Wilson shook hands with everyone at the dais, a move he said Wednesday was not planned.
“I was just very excited and very happy to be here,” Wilson said. “It was spontaneous.
Wilson’s wife, Corrine, teaches fourth grade at Cleminson Elementary School in El Monte. His daughter, Ally, is a registered burse in the burn intensive care unit at Torrance Memorial Hospital. Both seemed right at home in the board room.
“I’m trying to catch up wit myself,” Wilson said on Wednesday afternoon after attending a San Marino High School PTSA appreciation luncheon, with a Schools Foundation event later in the day. “It is great to see how much support there is here. With these outstanding students and staff, San Marino is rightfully one of the best districts in California, if not America. I also feel we have a forward-thinking board here that will do what is best for the students. I’m excited.”
When asked what made him want the San Marino job, Wilson answered “What would make me not want this job? I have a sense that the sum total of my experiences have led me to this point. I have been handed the keys to the Lamborghini. This community is so rich in people you get a sense of the community pride. San Marino is the envy of the rest of the school world, with the Schools Foundation and the parcel taxes. There is so much support for the schools.”
Wilson was born and raised in Glendora and graduated from Glendora High School. Prior to completing his doctorate in education at Azusa Pacific University, Wilson earned his BS degree in Accounting from California State University, Fullerton, a masters in Divinity from Biola University, and a Masters in Educational Leadership from California State University, Fullerton.
Wilson began his career as a teacher in Pasadena before working in the hospitality industry in Hawaii. Returning to Southern California with his family in 1998, Wilson joined the Covina-Valley Unified School District, where he spent a decade as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal at Traweek Middle School. In 2008, Wilson was recruited to join the Arcadia Unified School District, first as Principal at First Avenue Middle School before receiving a promotion to assistant superintendent of educational services, where he has served since 2014.
On a larger scale, Wilson is looking to start a network of similar school districts which he feels “share similar constraints that have been placed on us by the state of California” that might include La Cañada, South Pasadena, Temple City, Palos Verdes and Redondo Beach.
“I am hoping that we can network together,” Wilson told The Tribune. “Not just on best practices, but operations as well.”
Wilson was selected from a pool of 44 candidates who applied for the position in what was called a “nationwide search” for a successor to Cherniss.
