A former longtime Palo Alto Unified elementary school principal and administrator, Eric Goddard, will serve as interim principal at Barron Park Elementary School while its leader takes on a temporary district role.
Current Principal Anne Brown announced Goddard's hiring in a message to families on Wednesday morning. The school board approved on Tuesday night her temporary appointment as assistant superintendent of human resources.
Goddard, who began his career as a teacher in Woodside, arrived in Palo Alto in 2001, when he became principal at Palo Verde Elementary School and then later, Fairmeadow Elementary. He was also born and raised in Palo Alto and is a graduate of Palo Alto High School, according to Brown.
In 2011, Goddard moved to the district level as director of human resources. He left Palo Alto in 2015 for the associate superintendent of human resources position in the Mountain View Los Altos High School District.
In her message, Brown described Goddard as a "caring, capable and collaborative leader." His first day on the job will be Nov. 1.
Brown has said she plans to be in "constant communication" with Goddard until she returns to Barron Park next fall.
Brown is taking over temporarily for Karen Hendricks while she serves as interim superintendent.
Comments
another community
on Oct 25, 2017 at 12:00 pm
on Oct 25, 2017 at 12:00 pm
[Post removed.]
Palo Verde
on Oct 25, 2017 at 1:12 pm
on Oct 25, 2017 at 1:12 pm
This is great news for Barron Park! Mr. Goddard is a child-centered, effective administrator....great choice!
Barron Park
on Oct 26, 2017 at 1:30 pm
on Oct 26, 2017 at 1:30 pm
Is he still working at associate superintendent at MVLA?
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Oct 27, 2017 at 4:22 pm
on Oct 27, 2017 at 4:22 pm
Eric Goddard was a crony of Scott Bowers, that cannot be denied. It is at best suspicious that he is back as a PAUSD principal. I, too, thought he was climbing the ranks in Mountain View Los Altos, how the heck did he get back to PAUSD? That is never a good sign. Did he go through the interview process? Is he on loan from the other district? I am worried that Bowers and Kevin Skelly have helped set this up in the background. Eric Goddard is a nice man, in no way should he be back at PAUSD, he simply was not a good enough leader at Fairmeadow or in the district office. Are there are administrators out there we can hire that can do more than push papers and take up space?