Samohi Gets Three New Administrators

Santa Monica High School is getting three new House Principals for the 2013-2014 school year.

The Board of Education approved the appointment of Elias Miles, Kelly Tabis and Blain Watson as new House Principals at Samohi, at its May 16 meeting.

The House Principals serve under the school's principal, Laurel Fretz, supporting academic and extracurricular activities.

Here is a little more about each of the new House Principals:

Elias Miles comes to SMMUSD from Westchester Enriched Science Magnets, where he had been serving as Assistant Principal/Instructional Specialist. As Assistant Principal, Mr. Miles co-wrote the school-board-adopted plan to transform Westchester into three science-themed magnets, resulting in a 42-point API gain. 

Kelly Tabis returns to SMMUSD from Beverly Hills High School, where she has been serving as Assistant Principal for the past 5 years. Prior to that, she was a Special Education teacher and department chair at Santa Monica High School. As Assistant Principal, Ms. Tabis created the master schedule for 2200 students, and managed the discipline, academic progress, attendance and overall educational experience for 860 students.

Blain Watson comes to SMMUSD from Animo Locke Tech Charter High School, where he has been serving as Principal. Prior to that, he was Principal in Residence for Green Dot Public Schools, and Associate Director at West Adams Prep High School. As a Spanish teacher, he taught AP Spanish and served as Department Chair at Animo Inglewood Charter High School.  Additionally, he spent a year teaching English as a Foreign Language in Quito, Ecuador.