After 35 years in education, including 21 years in the Morgan Hill Unified School District and the last 10 years at Central High School, Principal Irene Macias-Morriss is ready to “decompress.”
The beloved leader of MHUSD’s continuation high school and mentor to many, if not all her students—who she playfully refers to as her “babies”—is retiring.
She has a one-way ticket to the Island of Kauai in Hawaii, where she plans to spend endless hours with her two grandchildren, Kalei, 9, and Alei, 3, along with her daughter, Deanna Kanehe.
“I’ve never done that before,” said Macias-Morriss of purchasing a one-way ticket. “I don’t think it’s forever (but) it’s a great place to decompress, relax and see what the next part of your life is going to be like.”
Fifty-one graduates making up Central’s Class of 2014 are embarking on the next part of their lives—which, for most, did not seem likely to include a high school diploma until they met Macias-Morriss.
“I like to work with the students who are the at-risk kids. I know what it’s like because I was raised in it,” said the East L.A. native, who has a knack for building confidence in the most hardened of teenagers, setting them on the path of success. “This is where I felt the most needed and most important. At this school, we save lives.”
Still hanging on the walls In her office at the new Central campus on Tilton Avenue—a site that she fought tooth and nail for her students to call their own—are posters and printouts of inspirational words, many of which are her own. One of these reads, “You are valuable. Don’t let anyone make you believe differently.”
Board of Education President Don Moody attended Central’s June 5 graduation ceremony—the last with Macias-Morriss at the helm—and called it “really touching” to see the special bond between the longtime administrator and her students.
“What strikes me the most about Irene is the personal interest she took in each and every one of her students,” Moody said. “She gave it a personal touch that really isn’t included in the job description. She meant so much to those students and they meant so much to her.”
Continuation high schools such as Central offer more one-on-one attention and teachers who are well apprised of students’ credit deficiencies and what it will take to catch up.
Central opened at its new northwest Morgan Hill location at the beginning of the 2013-14 school year.
“I’ve been working for 10 years to get my kids into a real school,” said Macias-Morriss. “It’s a better environment. The kids say it doesn’t look like a high school. It looks like a junior college.”
Macias-Morriss, who holds a Master’s of Administration degree from San Jose State University and teaching credentials in special education, adult education and English as a Second Language, was also the state’s 2011-12 Administrator of the Year.
The San Jose resident joined MHUSD in 1993 as the principal at P.A. Walsh Elementary School before moving to the same position at Central in 2004. She began her teaching career in upstate New York before coming to California, where she first taught in the Gilroy Unified School District.
“This is the hardest job I ever loved,” said Macias-Morriss of her time at Central. “But you’re never done. I’m not done. I’m going to find causes, find other areas to work with youth.”
Before her final days were up at Central, the students went out of their way to show the appreciation they had for their leader.
One recent day during second period, Macias-Morriss was summoned to a teacher’s room. When she returned to her office, it was filled four feet high with different colored balloons. Her students were responsible.
“They’re funny. They make you laugh. One thing I’m going to miss is that give-and-take. Teenagers are such a ball of energy,” Macias-Morriss said. “They’re very sweet. How can I look at a balloon and not smile anymore?”
