| | Published June 9th, 2010
| Meet New JM Principal Joan Danilson
| | By Sophie Braccini |  | | Picture courtesy of Joan Danilson
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It should feel just like home for Joan Danilson when she steps in Bruce Burns' formidable shoes come the summer. Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School's (JM) new principal was vice-principal for eight years at Stone Valley Middle School in Alamo, a school comparable in many aspects to JM. Danilson went through a selection process with administrators, parents and teachers who reviewed over 30 resumes and interviewed six candidates.
"We had selection criteria such as vision, ability to inspire, leadership, instructional leadership; approachability; integrity; knowledge of middle school students," said Burns, who will move to the Superintendant's office and participated at every stage of the recruitment process, "Mrs. Danilson stood out because of her experience and her tremendous knowledge relative to 6-8 students in terms of academic expectations, behavior and social growth."
Danilson is JM's fourth principal in five years. "It is time to get things settled down and I plan to stay a very long time at JM," said Danilson. The mother of three children (one in college, one in high school and one in elementary school), says it was time for her to get to the next step, after 12 years serving as a vice-principal in Alamo, San Ramon Valley High School and San Lorenzo High School.
The JM community should not expect radical changes, at least not in the short term. "I plan to create connections with the community before proposing any change," said Danilson, "(and) continue the culture of excellence that has dominated JM."
She is somewhat familiar with JM already. She has met JM's vice-principal, Brad Carn, through the middle-school network for co-administrators, and counselor Heidi Felt when she did her internship at Stone Valley. "I had been in touch with Heidi when she proposed the Safe School Ambassador Program at JM," said Danilson, "it is a program that I had been running at Stone Valley for many years."
Burns anticipates both continuity and innovation. "While her current school is similar in demographics, it is different. Stone Valley Middle School has programs and events we do not have. For example, insofar as innovation, Stone Valley has established Professional Learning Communities. Stone Valley manages student discipline, technology, and academic departments differently. Some of the things that attracted us were the differences and innovations. There are programs and services we certainly want to continue at JM, however, we have made several changes and improvements. I do anticipate Joan learning the JM culture next year and then working toward continued improvements relative to the district goals and the new ideas she has positive experiences with," states Burns.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA