Sonoma Valley school district names three vice principals

Several key leadership positions in the Sonoma Valley Unified School District were filled earlier this month and approved at the July 21 school board meeting.

Sonoma Valley High School has hired Francisco Manriquez and Lindsey Apkarian as vice principals at Sonoma Valley High School for the 2020-2021 school year. Shane Topolinski will join Adele Harrison Middle School as a vice principal.

Apkarian and Manriquez replace Jessica Hutchinson, who was promoted to principal of Sonoma Valley High, and Liz Liscom, who serves as Creekside principal and now oversees the high school’s new independent study program. They will work alongside SVHS’s third assistant vice principal Shawna Hettrich.

Topolinski will work under new Adele Harrison principal Paul Tuohy. The previous assistant vice principal Suzanna Flint, resigned earlier this summer after three years in the role.

In addition to serving as vice principal at SVHS, Francisco Manriquez will serve as the high school’s leadership teacher/activities director. Manriquez has been a teacher and has also served as dean of students at Cardinal Newman High School from 2015-2017. He has been involved in competitive and youth sports having served as a head high school and youth wrestling coach since 2011. While a student at UC Davis, Manriquez focused on Spanish and Chicano studies. Following Davis, Manriquez, who is also bilingual, earned his teaching credential, administrative credential and masters in education from Sonoma State University.

New SVHS vice principal Lindsey Apkarian served as vice principal at Analy High School for nine years and most recently was principal at Laguna High School, a continuation high school in West Sonoma County. She has 20 years of experience in public education and spent more than 10 years teaching social studies, English and leadership at Analy.

Topolinski joins Adele Harrison Middle School from the Mendocino Office of Education, where he served as a continuous improvement director. He began his career as a high school English teacher. He also has served as an activities director, drama director, teacher mentor, coach, learning director and vice principal.

Contact Lorna at lorna.sheridan@sonomanews.com.