"When Jim Russell arrived at Del Mar, he rode in on a white horse," said Eric "Doc" Iverson, the director of activities for the high school. "The man has a vision."

Russell arrived at Del Mar in fall 2003, when the high school was afflicted with a decidedly negative reputation. Its test scores had consistently been low, and the school as a whole seemed to suffer from a collective self-image problem, Iverson said.

Although it's an image largely undeserved, Russell said, many parents were choosing to transfer their children to other schools within the district or to private institutions, rather than have them enroll at Del Mar.

But one year later, some are saying things are remarkably different.

Since Russell took over, everything has changed dramatically, said Jenna Skinner, an active high school parent who also sits on the school's site council. Unlike in previous years, parents now feel that they have an administration that's comfortable working with them, the staff and the community. The administration also is open to suggestions and isn't afraid of seeing parents as partners "instead of people it has to do battle with."

Iverson said that opening channels of communication was one of Russell's initial goals.

When Russell approached Iverson—who has been at the school since 1981—last fall, the new principal asked what his biggest challenge as principal would be.

"I told him that it would be bringing students and parents back to trusting the principal," Iverson said.

After working with Russell for a year, Iverson gives the principal high marks.

"He really knows what he's doing. And he knows how to get people to buy into what he's planning," Iverson said.

It was for these reasons that Campbell Union High School District Superintendent Rhonda Farber said Russell's appointment last year "was a perfect fit. Jim's very good at community building. He's knowledgeable and thoughtful."

For all of the praise, however, Russell said he really hasn't done much yet. He said that during the first year, he just wanted to better understand the school.

"I felt that my job was simply to get to know the Del Mar school culture and staff," he said. "Before I could even think of making changes, I needed to know what was going on in the campus."

The changes he implemented were minor. He created a teacher's manual where none existed before to help new teachers understand the workings of the school. He made sure that he was around campus a lot to show students that he cared. And he started the school's site council, a group of students, teachers and staff that meets to discuss different ways to improve the school.

Through these rather small changes, Russell has "reestablished a sense of pride and self-worth in the school," Iverson said. "The relationship between the community and former administrations was a bit stale and rough."

For this school year, however, Russell said he has more substantial plans.

First, he'll seek to make the transition between middle school and high school much smoother for incoming freshman by implementing a program in which older students will "mentor" freshmen throughout the year to make sure the newcomers are adjusting well to the high school schedules.

Second, he said he wants to do no less than change the culture of the school. Del Mar will work with Jostens, which sells scholastic memorabilia like rings and yearbooks, to implement the Jostens Renaissance program, a national education-focused program created to recognize and reward the academic achievements of students.

And third, he wants to improve the quality of the teachers at his school. About 15 teachers have already undergone special training to allow them to identify the different learning styles of students and how to adapt lessons to accommodate them. By the end of next school year, all of the 60 teachers in the group will have undergone the training, he said.

So far all his actions have already locked down firm support from parents and faculty.

"People need to understand that we're a great school moving in a great direction," Skinner said. "We've struggled with being the ugly stepchild in the district for a long time, but now he's committed to changing the situation. I have complete complete faith in him."