Dr. Matthew Welker was appointed principal following the promotion of former principal, George Núñez, to Superintendent of Region 3.

Both Welker and Núñez were directly appointed, as part of a county-wide reorganization by Superintendent Rudy Crew.

“Often times, particularly at the high school level [and above], the appointments are direct,” Núñez said. “You go with people that have proven themselves.”

While there is no specific criteria for becoming principal, in retrospect, Welker seemed a likely candidate. He had already more than five years of experience as an assistant principal here (from the school’s opening in 1998 to mid-2003) and was recognized, in one of those years, as Assistant Principal of the Year for both the county and state. Also, Welker served as principal of Nautilus Middle School for the past two years.

“Someone obviously felt that he had the right qualifications to be successful,” said Melanie Megias, District Director, Administrative Staffing.

Besides Welker and Núñez, numerous other county employees were affected by the reorganization. Three other senior high school principals were promoted to either region center superintendents or directors.

“It improves morale when people know they have they have the ability to move up in the system,” School Board Member Martin Karp said.

With a promotion, however, there is added responsibility.

“I have 54 schools I’m responsible for,” says Núñez, whose region includes Northwest Miami, Doral, Sweetwater and part of Hialeah.

For Welker, his new assignment will be different from that at Nautilus.

“High school moves a lot faster than a middle school,” he said.

But, according to him, his previous experience at Krop should help. As an assistant principal, he helped hire many of the teachers who still work here

“Being part of the team that brought this facility to reality gave me an insight about the operational components of the building, its strengths, its weaknesses,” he said.