Powers that three: Bird Rock Elementary starting school year with trio of interim principals

With the search for a permanent leader on pause, Bird Rock Elementary School will start the new school year Monday, Aug. 21, with three interim principals.

Chris Hargrave, Jamie Jorgensen and Jim Solo will alternate as principals until a new one is hired to replace Andi Frost, who went on leave in January and formally stepped down in April.

Jorgensen, who retired in June 2022 as principal of Hearst Elementary School in Del Cerro, finished the past school year as Bird Rock’s acting principal.

Bird Rock is one of the five public schools in La Jolla operated by the San Diego Unified School District.

“It is really fun being here. It’s a great school,” Jorgensen said Aug. 14 at an on-campus meeting where Mitzi Merino, SDUSD area superintendent for District C, introduced parents to the principal team and answered questions.

Bird Rock Elementary School will begin the school year with three interim principals on a rotating schedule.

(Elisabeth Frausto)

Hargrave has held several positions throughout the district, including principal of Muirlands Middle School in La Jolla from 2003 to 2014.

She also was interim principal of Bird Rock Elementary before Frost came on board in 2018.

“This is a lovely school,” Hargrave said. “The parents are great. The kids are fantastic and it’s a very comfortable place to come back to.”

Solo, who was principal of Torrey Pines Elementary School in La Jolla for 12 years, also has held various roles in the school district and has taken on interim positions when called.

Solo called Bird Rock Elementary “an easy place to be. I love this community.”

BRES will have three principals — with one per day on a rotating schedule — because their official retirement places limitations on the number of days they can work.

“That’s what makes it tricky,” Jorgensen said.

Hargrave and Solo will share the job through Friday, Sept. 8. Jorgensen and Solo will share the last three weeks of September.

Solo and Hargrave again will share in October.

The schedule going forward will be given to the school community via emails, and the principals will send a weekly newsletter to share school updates, Hargrave said.

“I have great confidence in the team that is here today,” Merino said. “I know them all personally. I know them as ... very strong leaders who led in the context of this community and other communities that are similar.”

BRES staff members have asked that Merino check in during October about how the rotation is going. She added that she will send surveys to parents.

The position has been posted twice since Frost resigned, but a permanent replacement hasn’t been found, Merino said. “Match is critically important,” she said. “We want to find the very best leader to support our school for the long term.”

The job likely will not be reposted until January, Merino said. “We want to make sure that we have highly qualified candidates, and in the beginning of the year, everyone’s pretty settled and people aren’t willing to leave where they are.” ◆