Educator with elementary and secondary experience named next principal of Plaza Vista School

A little more than two weeks after naming new principals for Canyon View, Meadow Park and Stonegate elementary schools, IUSD has announced a new principal for Plaza Vista School. James Parker, who currently serves as assistant principal of curriculum and instruction at Ocean View High School, was named Monday as the successor to P.V.'s Heather Phillips, who was recently tapped to open one of Irvine’s two new elementary schools. Parker’s expected start date is July 1.

In an email to the community, Superintendent Terry Walker noted that Parker “has experience at both the elementary and secondary school levels, and he has demonstrated a strong understanding of the unique characteristics of a K-8 learning environment.” “James is also well-versed in instruction and the new Common Core standards, and he has been a leader in establishing and promoting Professional Learning Communities,” Walker said. James' career in public education began in 2001 at IUSD’s Sierra Vista Middle School, where he worked as an instructional aide. A year later he was hired at Lark Ellen Elementary School in Covina, teaching grades three, four and five. From 2005 through 2009, he taught at Westminster High School, and in 2009 he was named assistant principal of Ocean View High in the Huntington Beach Union High School District. Along with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from UCLA, James has a special education teaching credential and a master’s degree from Azusa Pacific University. He and his wife, Anjie, both graduated from IUSD’s Woodbridge High School and currently reside in Irvine with their two children, ages 5 and 2.