On March 13, the future of Sage Creek High School was revealed: the next principal. Jesse Schuveiller, the assistant principal to Morales, will be taking over as Sage Creek’s principal for the 2019-2020 school year.

Morales’ leaving this summer will be a landmark in Sage Creek history as he has lead the school since its first bricks were laid in construction and established the school’s values in the phrase ‘Be you. Be your B.E.S.T.’ Next school year will be the campus’ very first time without Morales as its leader, opening up the opportunity for Schuveiller to become the new principal.

Many staff and students are sad but excited for the future as Morales finishes his last year at Sage Creek High School.

Senior Kenneth Nguyen, a CUSD champion and prominent student leader, stated that the younger grades will “still experience Mr. Morales’ legacy here because he’s the one who started this school. They won’t ever be without him because everything at this school is partially because of what he has done.”

English and yearbook teacher Rachel Merino-Ott had similar sentiments but has been aware of Morales’ plans longer.

“[Mr. Morales] has been telling us [teachers] for three years now that he was going to be leaving this year, it was all in his plans, so we knew it was going to happen… He’s my fifth principal that I’ve worked for, and by far has been the best, so I’m sad that he’s going, but I’m really excited that he’s going on this amazing adventure to Panama,” Merino-Ott said.

Merino-Ott went on to express hope in a bright future with Schuveiller as the next principal.

“I was really happy when I found out that Mr. Schuveiller was going to be our next principal. I think it’s going to be a really smooth transition. I know that he has a great love and respect for our community and our school,” Merino-Ott said.

She continued by saying that Schuveiller would not only carry out Morales’ legacy but also bring “new and different perspectives.”

Before coming to Sage Creek, Schuveiller worked at a multitude of schools, including La Costa Canyon, Fallbrook High School, Del Norte High School and Park City High School. Not only has he held the role of assistant principal three times, but he has also been an English teacher, AVID teacher, varsity baseball coach and an English Department Chair. In the 2013-2014 school year, Schuveiller was named Fallbrook Union High School District’s teacher of the year and the following year was a San Diego County Teacher of the Year finalist.

In an interview with Morales, the current principal elaborated on Schuveiller’s extensive qualifications and experience.

“[I] think a solid game plan is going to be formulated and executed. He has his experience at Park City High School, Del Norte High School which is also another trimester campus, and as a high school teacher he taught English, so he understands the high school environment [and] the dynamics,” Principal Morales stated.

Morales went on to say that if he could use one word to describe the Sage Creek community, it would be “grit,” a trait that he believes Schuveiller exemplifies.

For two years in a row, Schuveiller and Morales participated in a week-long exercise where they switched roles.

Morales explains that “it was a complete change where he took my phone calls, my emails, my meetings, and then I would do the same with him… he got a glimpse and he thrived in that experience.”

When asked about his agenda as the principal for the 2019-2020 school year, Schuveiller expressed that he wants to walk the fine line between maintaining the status quo while making small improvements along the way.

Schuveiller states that “my plan is to honor [Morales] by continuing the work that he’s done here. Our styles may be a little bit different and our personalities may be a little bit different, [but] I’d say the similarities for us would be our work ethic and our commitment to student achievement to providing a safe and comfortable learning environment for everybody.”

In terms of the main factors that he has a desire to improve on Sage Creek’s campus, Schuveiller communicated an interest in streamlining Sage Creek’s teaching style as well as its inclusivity.

“I really want to align our instructional practices here because I believe there’s so many great things and so much great work being done in classrooms, I want our staff to be aligned and together so that we’re consistent in the deployment of our strategies across our school,” Schuveiller explains.

Schuveiller continued on, defining what home court advantage means to him: “home court advantage to me means that we have an inclusive environment here that regardless of where you come from, what your background is, what your passion is, what you’re interested in, the commonality is that we’re all Bobcats. And so being a Bobcat means we’ve got your back.”

Next year, the Bobcat nation can rest assured that it will have a principal who will continue the successes Morales has left behind as well as present a wealth of new opportunity for its students. With future principal Schuveiller, the Bobcat legacy will live on.