COSTA MESA : Costa Mesa High Gets New Principal
When school begins next month, the 1,500 students at Costa Mesa High School will be greeted by a new principal.
School officials have hired Edward Harcharik to replace former principal Mike Murphy, who has become district coordinator of student services and athletics.
Harcharik comes to Costa Mesa from the Downey school district in Los Angeles County, where he was principal of Warren High School for five years. For more than two decades before that, he was a teacher and administrator in the Huntington Beach Unified School District.
“I see him as somebody who is a strong instructional leader,” said Mac Bernd, Newport-Mesa superintendent. “We wanted somebody who could observe teachers’ lessons and confer with teachers . . . about the good points and how to increase proficiency.”
Harcharik was plucked from a list of 36 candidates by a committee of Costa Mesa High School students, parents, teachers and staff.
The district Board of Education t is expected to approve Harcharik’s hiring in a special 5 p.m. meeting today in the Harper Center, 425 E. 18th St.
Harcharik’s wife, Kathleen, is an associate dean at Cal-Poly Pomona. The couple live in Lake Forest.
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