After three years of teaching social science, Mr. Scott Collins will be leaving to take a position as vice principal of Spring View middle school.

After an application process involving a resume and two rounds of interviews, the Rocklin Unified School District board approved the recommendation for social science teacher and last year’s RUSD Teacher of the Year Mr. Scott Collins to be appointed Vice Principal of Spring View Middle School. The final approval was made by Superintendent Roger Stock made the appointment official at last night’s board meeting with the position effective July 1.

“The current assistant principal decided she wanted to go in a different direction and decided to step down this year in February, so in that point they floated the position and posted it as available. I’ve been working on getting into admin for quite a while, and got my administrative credential a few years back, not knowing if I would ever pursue that direction. About a year ago I really started getting the itch to go in the direction to make decision for a whole school and lead adults,” Collins said.

Collins has been pushing to find a leadership position since the beginning of the school year, teaming with Principal Mr. Justin Cutts to find leadership positions on campus. However, when this position became available, Collins saw an opportunity to move toward a position of leadership in district administration.

“I’m gonna miss him, I really am. We are not going to be as good without him, but he has had this goal for a while. I told him from the beginning I would support him any way I could. We talked in the beginning of the year about things he could help us with that are leadership roles, and he has done a lot of that stuff even this year,” Cutts said.

Collins took on leadership roles and advised teachers on how to adapt to technological advances and advocated all freshman students to own a chromebook. He also stepped into leadership positions such as being on tasks force committees, and took on TIC (Teacher in Charge) rolls where he takes a position of a substitute administrator, this week temporarily holding Vice Principal Mrs. Jennifer Hanks’s position as she was away at a conference. Still, Collins was looking for a more permanent leadership role.

After two rounds of interviews, the first including 12 teachers, counselors, principal, office staff and couple of district representatives and the second including Superintendent Roger Stock, Collins was recommended to be the future vice principal. During the board meeting Mar. 15, the RUSD board approved the recommendation to the superintendent, and Collins was given the position.

“I’m really excited. I really like new challenges, I’ve followed this pattern for a while. Every three to four years I like to do something new, teaching a different class or a different job, and it’s really exciting. But I’m gonna miss everyone here, I love Whitney High School and it’s been a wonderful experience, wonderful campus, great colleagues great students and a great program,” Collins said.

Although he will miss his current position, he feels that a lot of the skills he has become known for on campus will carry on to his new position as vice principal.

“I’m really proud of being a tech leader around campus. I bring a wealth of wisdom and experience when it comes to technology in the classroom, and I also feel like I subscribe to and push a growth mindset; a culture of always getting better and looking to improve. Building that culture is another immediate place where I will look to make an impact at Spring View,” Collins said.

His background in technology has helped him to carry on movements to help further upgrade the school’s software and technology accessibility.

“I believe technology is very important. We are pushing a freshman BYOD program and really try to get each freshman family to purchase a chromebook and so they will have a one to one environment,” Collins said.

Not only will Collins miss his students and current position on campus, but AP World History student Carly Keelsey will miss his presence as a teacher and influence.

“He is actually passionate about the things he is teaching. When he walks in a classroom he’s always excited to teach. I was so sad finding out, he is my favorite teacher and I’m sad other students will not have the opportunity to learn from him,” Keelsey said.

However, even with his departure, students such as AP World History peer teacher Alex Mann have strong faith he will be successful with his new position.

“I think it suits him perfectly. He has those skills where he can handle any situation very well, and he can cooperate with a lot of people too. We will lose a really good AP teacher, but at the same time it is an upgrade and more encompasses his role. His skills shouldn’t just be for one small class, they should be to help a bigger need or school,” Mann said.

Cutts believes that although the school is losing a great teacher, they are gaining a great connection to Spring View, as students will be guided from there to here.

Cutts said, “If we were gonna lose him, this is the next best place for him to go, because obviously a lot of Spring View kids come here, and he knows what they need to do in order to be successful when they get here so because that knowledge we can learn to bridge that gap even more. We are offering a new computer science class next year, so he will be a liaison over there to help us know what they are thinking.”

by RACHEL MARQUARDT