From her desk in her new office at the former Local District 1 building, Janet Kiddoo says she can see the gates of Daniel Pearl Magnet High School (DPMHS) “and that makes me smile everyday.”

Janet Kiddoo who was promoted in June to one of the two high school directors for the San Fernando Valley, now works at the Educational Service Center (ESC), located right next door to DPMHS.

“Although I miss DPMHS very much, this is a great honor,” Kiddoo said. “I think to myself, ‘how can I take what I learned at DPMHS and use it here at my new job?’”

Over the past year, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has been making a lot of changes to reorganize the districts administrators due to budget cuts.

Kiddoo began as the interim principal of the magnet when the school was working to break away from then-Birmingham High School, which was forming a charter school in 2009. She then was hired as the permanent principal and led the school during its first three years as a stand-alone comprehensive high school.

Kiddoo’s new job is to support the principals by looking at and analyzing data and figuring out how to help improve the schools’ lacking areas.

Margret Kim, the other director for LAUSD schools in the San Fernando Valley, and Kiddoo work together to support over 200 schools. Although Kim is DPMHS’s representative, Kiddoo works with schools such as Arleta High School, Van Nuys High School, Cleveland High School and other schools around the district.

“I would like my old students to know it was really hard not to be able to explain what was happening since it was during the summer,” Kiddoo asid. “But it was my time to step out and help other schools.”

At DPMHS, Kiddoo was known for knowing every student’s names and she was one of the staff members who dyed their hair turqouise last fall when the school’s API scores reached 803.

Not only are the students affected by her departure, but also many of the teachers, some of whom were very close with Kiddoo.

“I lost a lot of sleep between the time I found out Ms. Kiddoo was leaving and when I was told Ms. Smith was our new principal,” said mathematics teacher Leslie Hicks. “I knew her from last year so I knew she would be a good for us.”