Jessica Hutchinson named principal of Sonoma Valley High School

Sonoma school district announced on Tuesday that Jessica Hutchinson was given the position of principal at Sonoma Valley High School after being the acting principal since late March, when Alberto Solarzano resigned.

“We are excited that Ms. Hutchinson will take the reins of our high school. She is very knowledgeable in the current status and aspirations for the high school,” said Socorro Shiels, superintendent of Sonoma Valley Unified School District. “As an SVHS community member for seven years, she is prepared to lead dedicated staff, committed parents, and strong students.”

The competitive four-tiered process through which Hutchinson was hired included participation from stakeholders such as parents, students, certificated staff and administrators. She was vice principal at the high school for seven years and has 20 years of experience.

Hutchinson said she is excited about the opportunity and grateful for the support. The first order of business for her in her new leadership role is to “figure out what the start of school looks like next year” and making all the necessary preparations, she said.

Connecting with the students, whether it’s in person or digitally, is her main focus. The school has been operating in distance learning during the shelter-in-place order.

“I appreciate all the work the staff has done,” Hutchinson said. “We have a really strong sense of team that we’ve established and I hope to continue that.”

Shiels agrees and said “the entire high school team has done an incredible service to students and the Valley during the global pandemic, and I appreciate their professionalism.”

Outside of any preparations or changes related to the coronavirus pandemic, Hutchinson said she will review feedback from Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) before making any other changes. A WASC committee visited the high school in March, and under normal circumstances the school would have received the committee’s feedback by now, but Hutchinson said they are expecting it midsummer.

“That information will inform our next steps,” she said.

Hutchinson has a deep understanding of the school having worked with the freshmen teams, AVID program, and overseeing student discipline.

She was born and raised in New Jersey and graduated from Dartmouth College with a double major in French and government studies. She studied in Paris and spent an extra term there doing an internship and independent research.

When she returned to the states, she took a job as track and field coach for a high school and taught a summer French class to high school students through the Dartmouth language program. She also taught English as a Second Language to adults. It was through those jobs that she realized her passion and got her first full-time teaching job at Squaw Valley Academy near Lake Tahoe.

Her husband Dan’s career took them to Los Angeles where Hutchinson taught until they moved north where she taught French and AVID and was a coordinator at Vintage High School in Napa. Following that she accepted the job with Sonoma Valley High School as vice principal. They have two sons, ages 10 and five, and she enjoys yoga and hiking in her free time.

Contact Anne at anne.ernst@sonomanews.com.