School to welcome new principal
Metz to take reins at SoPas Middle
By Mary Bender , Staff Writer
Friday, June 04, 2004
Pasadena Star News
SOUTH PASADENA — A school that has become the district’s focal
point will get a new principal this summer, as the board of
education Thursday night unanimously hired a Glendale assistant
principal. Mercedes Metz, who works at Woodrow Wilson Middle School in
Glendale, will take the reins of South Pasadena Middle School, perhaps
as early as July 1. Her salary will range from $85,344 to $92,379.
“Her students describe her as ‘cool,’ ‘ Superintendent Mike Hendricks
said, introducing Metz to the five-member board, also noting that
she is “highly organized.’ Metz was one of 25 candidates.
“Thank you for this vote of confidence. I’m thrilled to be here,’
Metz told the board.
“The future is going to be bright,’ she said, pledging to uphold
“rigorous standards’ at the middle school, “in an environment that’s
going to be truly nurturing.’
About 1,000 sixth- , seventh- and eighth-graders are enrolled at South
Pasadena Middle School. The campus will undergo a major expansion
and renovation in the coming years, a project to be paid for with a
$29 million bond approved by voters in 2002.
The school board and district staff are in the thick of planning and
environmental review for the project.
Metz is a 10-year veteran of Glendale Unified, where she began her
career as a substitute teacher. She then won a permanent teaching
post at John Muir Elementary School in 1995.
She began transitioning into administrative work in 1999, with posts at
Eleanor Toll Middle School, before moving to the assistant principal’s
office at Wilson in 2001.
“She’s a very hard worker (and) she’s very bright. I’m losing a very
good person. She’ll certainly be missed here,’ said Richard Lucas,
principal at Wilson.
“I’ve seen her grow in three years quite a bit, and I think she’ll
be a wonderful principal there.’
Wilson has 1,286 students, mostly seventh- and eighth-graders, with
just a smattering of sixth- graders who win the right to enroll under
a district lottery, Lucas said.
The Glendale campus is racially diverse, with Armenian students
accounting for 34 percent of the enrollment, Latinos 24 percent, Asians
predominantly Korean 12 percent, and Filipinos 7 percent, Lucas said.
It’s not clear when Metz’s duties will be complete at Wilson, because
she had been named principal of the summer school, which runs June
30 to Aug. 6.
The principal’s post at South Pasadena Middle School had been
the center of controversy as the April 28 application deadline
approached. Parents and a open-meeting watchdog criticized the work
of an eight- member committee, appointed by school board President
Tammy Godley to help encourage qualified candidates to apply.
In recent years, there has been considerable turnover among the
middle school’s principals: Rich Boccia served one year before
returning to the Pasadena Unified School District, and Katy Schneider,
his successor, won the job two years ago. Schneider submitted her
resignation in March.
Meanwhile, 28 people applied to become South Pasadena Unified School
District’s next superintendent. The application deadline was May 27.
Hendricks’ last day is June 30; in a closed-door meeting in February,
the school board decided not to renew his contract. Godley said
Thursday night that the field will be whittled to 10 superintendent
candidates, who will be interviewed next week.
— Mary Bender can be reached at (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4456 or by
e-mail at [email protected] .