Dr. Kimberly Sheehan brings a wealth of experience to the Santa Ynez campus
By Mike Chaldu
michael@santaynezvalleystar.com
Sitting in her new office as the superintendent/principal for Santa Ynez Union Valley High School, Dr. Kimberly Sheehan recalled the path she took through higher education and how the teachers, counselors, and coaches she had as a high-school student in Covina got her started on that path.
“I had two amazing parents — my dad worked on the railroad and my mother was a stay-at home mom,” she said.”Since they hadn’t gone to college, they didn’t know how to navigate the educational system; however, they were smart enough to live in areas that had great schools for me.
“During high school, I was a typical student — I played softball, I was a cheerleader, I was really into the social aspect of high school,” Sheehan continued. “I did fine in class, but I never really thought of myself as smart, but there were teachers and others in the school who let me know I was smart, and pointed out my skill sets, and really believed in me and encourage me to set goals.”
And that was what inspired Sheehan to pursue a career in education that has resulted in her latest stop at SYHS. She graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with a degree in communications/public relations, earned her teaching credential at Azusa Pacific University, and got a Master’s at USC.
“Having those people [in Covina] believe in me is what really planted the seed,” she said. “It made me want to give back, to help students in the way that I was helped.”
The Santa Ynez Valley Union High School District announced Sheehan’s appointment to the newly created superintendent/principal position on April 16. She had spent the previous three years as director of The Accelerated Schools, a group of charter campus in Los Angeles. Before that she was a leader in public education for over 20 years, with experience in elementary, middle, and high schools. After beginning her career in education as a high school English teacher and counselor in Covina, she went on to work as a principal of an elementary coding and dual language immersion school.
And before that, her first job out of college was a little different: She worked for the then Anaheim Angels of Major League Baseball.
“Coming out of Cal Poly Pomona, I thought I would be in that PR world, and I really liked sports, so I thought working for a team would be fun,” Sheehan recalled. “I worked in the front office, and enjoyed working with the community organizations and especially the Make-A-Wish Foundation when they would bring kids in, and that stuck with me.
“Seeing that and what they did for the kids made me realize how much I wanted to give back. Plus, I was thinking about starting a family and having kids and I thought ‘what would be the best job to do and still spend time with your kids,’ and education seemed to be a good option.”
Sheehan said she first became aware of the SYHS job in February, as the school board was in the midst of a long search for its combined superintendent/principal position.
“I came upon the job through some workshops with the ASCA (Association of California School Administrators) as an aspiring superintendent,” she said. “They would give me advice on searching jobs, and one was that some people have to draw a barrier around where they live because they need to stay in the general area.”
However, Sheehan had no such barrier.
“My kids are grown and out of the house, so I didn’t have to worry about how it would effect them, so I just figured anywhere in the state was fine with me,” she said. “I found out about this job, came up to Valley for a weekend to check it out, did a little more research, and decided to apply for the job.”
After working in the inner city of LA for the past three years, Sheehan said she welcomes the more rural environment of here new job.
“It’s a very large valley, but it has a very small-town feel, and I like that,” she said. “This is a community that has had a lot of tradition and legacy, and I feel I’m very aligned with that.”
Sheehan started her new job on July 1, and she has been very busy acclimating herself to her new surroundings and getting ready for the school year, which begins on Thursday, Aug. 8.
“The leadership team has been extremely busy,” she said. “I had the luxury of being able to attend three or four board meeting before I started here so that’s been helpful.”
One of the things Sheehan is addressing is the cellphone issue. Gov. Gavin Newsom recently proposed a statewide cellphone ban in schools that would take effect in 2026 if passed, and the LA Unified School District recently instituted a ban during classes.
SYHS, however, will not be going that far.
“The board adopted a new cellphone policy this year that will limit, but not ban, the phones,” Sheehan said. “How do we limit the phones? That’s what we’ve been working on all summer — the communication of that and theaccountability.”
Otherwise, Sheehan has seen the school’s latest AP test results and said SYHS students have scored above average on 11 of the 12 test administered. She’s seen the student production of “Bye, Bye Birdie” and attended the Santa Barbara County Fair in Santa Maria to see some of the SYHS students show their livestock animals.
“Also, I met with the ASB students and they had a really big ask: The seniors wanted their own reserved parking spaces on campus,” Sheehan said. “They also wanted to be able to decorate their spots, so we’ve OK’d that and set aside Aug. 10 as the day they can do that and we’ve gotten local merchants to supply paint and materials for that.”
As she embarks on her first year, Sheehan is just looking to maintain the operation and legacy of what she already considered an excellent school.
In fact, in looking at the school, she thinks of SYHS in the terms of her three adult kids and three grandkids.
“I feel like I picked Santa Ynez as much as Santa Ynez picked me,” she said. “And I think in terms of whether I would be proud to have my kids, or my grandkids, coming here. And this school, I would be very confident if they came to school.
“That’s one of the measures where you can tell that a school is doing it right.”
