Over the past few weeks, we have welcomed a new member of the Verrado administration: Kevin Thomas. Mr. Thomas was recently announced as the new principal, replacing Nate Showman, who will be the new CTE director of Agua Fria Union High School District.

Once it was announced that Thomas would be joining the Verrado staff, his reaction was filled with many emotions. “My reaction to learning that I would be the new principal was excitement, and nerves.  I’m excited, because I think I can do a great job and because Verrado is an awesome place.  Then nervous, because it’s a really important role, and I’m joining such a fantastic place…”. 

Thomas decided to join the Verrado administration because he has “always enjoyed the campus and the people while I’ve collaborated with staff and community members”. 

Thomas decided to pursue a career in education because he “wanted to teach students that they shouldn’t take their lives for granted…teach them that they are entwined with history and economics in their everyday lives, and don’t realize it, and lastly, I wanted to help people in my career and do something where I was excited to wake up and go to work every day.” 

With a decade of education under his belt, Thomas has “..been a teacher for 11 years, and taught Credit Recovery, World History, Geography, Economics, Educational Psychology, Government, AP US History, Algebra, and AP World History. I also coached for my entire career, until I became an Assistant Principal..and was in charge of safety/security, testing, curriculum and instruction, RTI, among other things…”. 

As becoming the new principal, Thomas plans to implement new changes to Verrado once he has an understanding of Verrado and the students. “I want to learn a lot more about what Verrado needs.  Every school has a large number of challenges, and I want to make sure I hear from students and staff to identify what the priorities are and most pressing needs are.  One of the cool things about coming to Verrado is that there are so many pieces that are working great, and I don’t want to make changes until I have a clear picture of what direction we want to go”, Thomas states. 

Aside from his life as an educator and now the new principal of Verrado, he also brings an interest in learning anything and an outlet for students to make them feel welcome and respected. Students of Verrado should know that Thomas loves “…working in education and the fact that I get to work with people, and I want to do everything I can to make people feel welcome, and respected…Students can feel comfortable reaching out…I’m also really laid back, and try my best to make people feel heard.”

Additionally, some fun facts about Thomas are that he loves playing golf and chess, as well as indulging in anime shows such as Death Note and Monster. Another fun fact that solves the mystery behind his height, Thomas formally states his true height. “The speculations about my height are fair…I am 6’8″

Mr. Thomas is very excited about the next years to come, and all the places Verrado will go. Towering over the rest of us, he wants to make sure everyone can have the best high school experience to date.