SIMI VALLEY : Royal High School Gets New Principal

The new head of Royal High School in Simi Valley will be Michael W. McConahey, assistant principal at Granada Hills’ John F. Kennedy High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

McConahey, 46, of Van Nuys said he has been interested for some time in moving to a smaller district and taking the helm at a school that is “on an upswing.” McConahey believes his range of experience will be an asset in the top job.

“I think my experience with so many different types of students will help,” he said.

McConahey, who starts his new $66,000-a-year job Tuesday has been an assistant principal at four high schools in the Los Angeles district since 1990. Before that, he was a director of instruction at Birmingham High School in Van Nuys for three years.

As a field coordinator at UCLA for one year, McConahey instructed and supervised student teachers. Before 1986, he was a physical education and science teacher at various junior high and high schools in Los Angeles for 10 years.

McConahey earned a bachelor’s degree from Occidental College and a master’s and doctorate from the University of Southern California.

Royal’s former principal of three years, Dave Jackson, announced in June that he would take a one-year leave of absence from the district to spend time with his family and that he may return as a teacher.