Jason Kurtenbach acknowledges he will be following a road not often taken when he assumes the role of principal at San Marino High School.
“Thirty days,” Kurtenbach, a district-level administrator returning to a campus role, said Monday morning.
His quick answer could possibly mean he is either dreading or eagerly anticipating his new assignment, but the tone of his voice clearly indicated the latter. The man who spent five years as principal of Huntington Middle School, from 2013-18, will receive a rare opportunity when his new job officially kicks in on July 1.
“When someone goes into administration, they typically think the pathway keeps going through administration,” Kurtenbach explained. “I am receiving that rare opportunity to get back around the students.”
After his half-decade at Huntington, Kurtenbach was offered the position of executive director of curriculum and instruction at the San Marino Unified School District office. He will more or less trade places with Issaic Gates, who spent the last three years as principal at SMHS. Gates will serve as director of instructional services and educational partnerships and relocate to the district office.
“I’m excited,” Kurtenbach exclaimed. “There is a little bit more of a heartbeat on campus and I look forward to experiencing that again.”
Kurtenbach acknowledged it was something of a “shock” when he left HMS.
“People would ask me if I liked it and I would say that I liked it but I didn’t love it,” he said. “So this is an amazing opportunity. I know all the kids and all the parents except the new ones. This is an awesome opportunity and I am very honored. The fact that they thought I was the one who could go in there is a great feeling.”
Kurtenbach stated that he was proud to be making headway in several areas at the district office, including the district’s Local Control and Accountability Plan implementation, but “when you are offered to do something that you really, really love, it’s not really a decision at all. It is different because once you go up, you just tend to hang out there.”
Kurtenbach said he is also excited about reconnecting with SMHS’ faculty, which he called “incredible.”
Prior to hitting the crosstown freeways for San Marino, Kurtenbach spent three years at Santa Monica High School as what is known as a “house principal,” called on to oversee one of five “little high schools” on the 2,800-student campus. Prior to that, Kurtenbach was the assistant principal at two Torrance Middle Schools.
A native of Nebraska, Kurtenbach received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Nebraska and later took master’s degrees in education and administration from Pepperdine University.
If there’s one part of the assignment that hasn’t changed, it’s his daily 75-minute commute from Redondo Beach.
“When you move to California from someplace like Nebraska, you want the word ‘beach’ to appear in the name of your city,” he quipped.
A title well worth the effort.
