ENCINITAS — Adam Camacho, principal of San Dieguito Academy, will resign from his role effective July 31, according to an email sent to parents and students earlier this month.
Camacho, who held the school’s top position for five years, plans to pursue a new career in the private sector, according to his message.
“While I’m very excited to pursue this new challenge, the transition brings both sadness and gratitude to my heart … I will miss the wonderful career in education I’ve been privileged and honored to thrive in,” Camacho wrote.
According to Camacho’s email, the district leadership plans to assemble a panel of representatives consisting of staff and parents to help select a new principal.
According to Miquel Jacobs, the school district’s communications coordinator, the selection process has not been developed yet, but the district hopes to fill the role before the start of the 2022-23 school year on Aug. 16.
“I look forward to working closely with [the new principal] to ensure a smooth transition in leadership,” Camacho wrote. “Meanwhile, I remain focused on preparing for what I’m sure will be another amazing school year ahead.”
Since 2000, Camacho has worked in the San Dieguito Union High School District.
Previously, Camacho was a counselor at La Costa Canyon High School and Earl Warren Middle School, assistant principal at Carmel Valley Middle School, and principal at Earl Warren before he joined the San Dieguito Academy community in 2017.
“(Camacho) didn’t feel like a principal because he was so down to earth; he would walk around, high-fiving students and checking in,” said Joy Ruppert, a rising senior at San Dieguito Academy and last year’s school president.
Ruppert saw Mr. Camacho as a “team player” for students and staff. She hopes students will be allowed to input in selecting a new principal.
Ethan Fitzgerald, Ruppert’s predecessor in student leadership and a Class of 2022 graduate from San Dieguito Academy, agrees that Camacho was an “excellent principal.”
Both Ruppert and Fitzgerald hold fond memories of Camacho, including playing drums in the school’s Battle of the Bands contest, regularly attending sports games and cooking pancakes for students at school.
“[Principals] should be a friend and an ally first before an administrator. [Camacho] always put his best foot forward, and he made it his top priority to listen to staff and students,” Ruppert said. “It was a unique and amazing experience working with Mr. Camacho. For me, ASB and the rest of the student body, we want to say thank you to him.”
