Foothill High School vice principal Malcolm Norrington is stepping down from his position and will be leaving the district after accepting the principal position at El Cerrito High School.
"It's bittersweet, because I do love it here, but I do feel it's time for me to explore other leadership opportunities," Norrington told this news organization. "These students and this staff, I cannot tell you how full my heart is serving and supporting them year in and year out ... I love them all."
Norrington first joined the Foothill team back in 2019 after having taught English at Amador Valley High School. He also served as a teacher at Valley Continuation High School in Dublin, and he ran unsuccessfully for the Dublin Unified School District Trustee Area 3 during his first year as vice principal at Foothill. Before his education career, Norrington spent 13 years as a police officer.
At first, Norrington said he had no interest in leaving Pleasanton. But one day, he said he was talking to a person who was in the same doctoral program as Norrington who asked him if he was interested in becoming a principal.
He said that he wasn't interested because he didn't want to travel far, but after some subsequent conversations he decided to apply for the position at El Cerrito High, located in the West Contra Costa Unified School District.
"One thing led to another and I was offered a position," Norrington said.
He said after speaking with Foothill principal Sebastian Bull and receiving his blessing, he decided to accept the job.
Bull said that he is excited for Norrington and that El Cerrito is lucky to have him as a leader given all that he has done for Foothill. He wished nothing but the best for Norrington as he gets set to take on his new role.
"He has been an incredible administrator for us at Foothill for the past four plus years and pours himself into helping anyone who needs his help," Bull said. "I will miss working with him on a daily basis since I appreciate his strong work ethic, his passion for helping students and his friendship."
However, Norrington said that he didn't want to just abruptly leave Foothill without making sure that everything was in place and ready to go for whoever takes over for him in the future.
He said he has been working on clearing any tasks to make the transition for his replacement a lot smoother, which is why Norrington's last day at Foothill will be on Friday. His first day as principal at El Cerrito will be on the Tuesday after Labor Day.
Norrington said that while he doesn't know who will take over his role at Foothill, he knows that the district will make the right decision with whoever they choose.
He also said that without his experience at Foothill, he wouldn't have had the confidence to take on a principal position, and that he looks forward to building relationships with the students, staff and community at El Cerrito the same way he did at Foothill.
"Everything else will come," Norrington said. "But I'm most excited about building those relationships, and building that trust and then doing everything we can to bring equity to that school ... and to continue to do the real work to make sure students have the opportunities to be successful in whatever manner that they choose."
