Pete Getz, who has served as assistant principal at Canyon High School since 2007, has been named the new principal of the Hart School District’s Sequoia Charter School. The district’s Governing Board approved the appointment at its meeting Wednesday evening, and the new position is effective next Monday.

The position was vacated when former principal Kathy Hunter moved to the district office in August as the district’s new coordinator of student services. Sequoia Charter is an intensive therapeutic school for emotionally disturbed students, providing a structured environment for many students who previously would have been placed in non-public schools outside the local district.

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Getz first came to the Hart District as a teacher of biological sciences and business education at Canyon High School from 1998 to 2004. After serving several administrative positions with the Antelope Valley Union High School District, he returned to the Hart District in 2007 as an assistant principal at Canyon High School.

He earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Kansas and his master’s degree in educational administration and his administrative credential from California State University, Northridge. He expects to receive his Ed.D. in administration and teacher leadership from Walden University in November.

As an assistant principal at Canyon, he served as the administrator in charge of site facilities and maintenance operations and the site athletic program. He also was coordinator for the school’s career technical education program and a member of the site professional development team. During his tenure with the Antelope Valley district, he served as administrator of site special education programs and helped develop intensive intervention programs to help the district’s struggling students.