Coronado Unified School District has named Peter Kuhns as the next principal of Village Elementary School.
“We are excited to welcome Peter to our team. His professional expertise and experience and his ties to the community will be a great addition to CUSD,” said Superintendent Karl Mueller.
“We had a very extensive selection process which began with the creation of a leadership profile developed with input from current staff and parents. And then we had a panel of twenty elementary certificated and classified staff, administrators, and a parent involved in the interview process,” added Mueller.
“I’m humbled and excited to be here and to serve the students, staff, and community of Coronado,” said Kuhns. “Coronado is a special place and I am honored to have this opportunity. Village Elementary is a beautiful school and I can’t wait to meet everyone and get started in July.”
Kuhns is currently an associate principal at Ellen Browning Scripps Elementary School in San Diego Unified School District.
He previously worked at Teach For America as an academic dean, teaching middle school science and social studies, and coaching football and basketball. He also taught elementary STEM in South Bay Union School District, and was a founding teacher at SOUL Charter School in Solana Beach.
“As a kid, I always dreamed of being an educator,” said Kuhns, who grew up in the Chicago suburbs and attended Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. “Right after college I got the Teach for America job in New Orleans. I taught at a low-income inner-city school and it was both challenging and inspiring. It was a great experience and I learned a lot.”
After four years in Louisiana his wife convinced him to move back to her hometown of San Diego. “There really wasn’t very much convincing,” he laughed. “My wife Christy (Mebust) grew up in Coronado and graduated from CHS in 2008,” he shared.
“Family is so important, and I am very fortunate to have great in-laws. They are a close extended family, and I see that a lot in Coronado, it’s a tight-knit community where everyone helps each other and many families living in town are multi-generational.”
Peter and Christy, who works as a civil engineer, lived in Coronado when they first moved back from Louisiana. “We loved it here. We lived in Christy’s grandparents back house and were active in Rotaract and around the island,” he shared.
Today they live in the Talmadge neighborhood of San Diego with their two children (Sam, 2 years, and Maddie, 7 months), but spend most weekends in Coronado. “We go to church here, the kids spend time with their grandparents, and if I can sneak it in before the kids wake up, I love to go play ‘dawn patrol’ on the back 9 (holes) on the Coronado golf course,” he said.
Besides spending time with family, he enjoys reading and anything active and outdoors. “It’s always a challenge to find time and balance between work, family, and staying physically active. But I did manage to run a marathon last year!” he laughed.
Kuhns has a B.A. in History from Lafayette College, an M.S. in Education from Johns Hopkins University, and an M.Ed in School Organization and Leadership from Columbia University.
Additionally, he has a Chief Business Official Certification (CASBO and University of Southern California), a Highly Qualified Administrator credential, a California CLAD certificate, and he is a licensed trainer in Restorative Practices.
He will begin his tenure at Village Elementary School on July 1, 2023. He will replace current principal Dr. Heidi Bergener who will continue to serve CUSD in the position of K-12 Pathway Director for the Southwestern Community College Consortium.
Source: Coronado Unified School District
