Eric Forseth, 53, joined San Marcos Unified School District in 1986 as a teacher at Richland Elementary School. He became principal of that school and was most recently principal at Alvin Dunn Elementary School. In January, he moved to the district office to begin preparing for next month's opening of Joli Ann Leichtag Elementary School, where he will be principal.

The school, at 653 Poinsettia Ave., will open with about 720 students. Assistant Principal Carrie Geldard transferred from Knob Hill Elementary School.

Forseth and his wife, Gail, a principal in Lake Elsinore, live in Murrieta. Their two children are in college. He has a bachelor's degree in political science from San Diego State University and two master's degrees, in curriculum and instruction, and education administration from UCLA.

QUESTION: What is it like to open a new school?

ANSWER: The two schools where I have been a principal in this district are two of our oldest elementary schools, with a lot of tradition. Being able to begin a school – welcoming new students and families, the hiring of staff, creating culture instead of inheriting it – is very exciting and rewarding work.

What goes into opening a new school?

In the beginning, the focus was primarily attracting and hiring a talented teaching staff. I (went) to the school sites in our district where the teachers who had applied for a transfer worked and interviewed them. . . . It was really tough to not be able to take everyone who wanted to come.

The second stage was getting our students and families excited about coming to the new school. Our students are coming from three schools – Alvin Dunn, Carrillo and Paloma. We had student quality education for everybody is a big focus for that family.

You have been an educator for a long time. What keeps you going?

That's a pretty easy answer, especially now that I have been away from a school site. If you go into this profession for the right reason, you are driven and motivated by what you do for children and your interaction with them. There's just nothing more rewarding than working with kids, seeing them successful, contributing to that success, enjoying the things that come with the age group that you have.

What are the less enjoyable parts of your job?

There's really two areas. One is when you work with different constituencies. I work with children, their parents and families and our staff. In most cases, those interests align and things go really well. One of the challenges is you'd love to make all three of those constituencies happy and sometimes that doesn't happen.

The other is education's become really politicized. In a lot of cases, the decisions that have been made are really good. Sometimes, agendas get in the way. . . . My wife and I were on vacation back East and we were talking about vocational education, which we barely have anymore in California. My relatives were just aghast that in our attempt to get everybody ready for college, which is a laudatory goal, the reality is some kids don't want that. I'm not sure that our doing away, for the most part, of vocational education opportunities is a good decision. But in the age of accountability, that is a decision that has been made.

–LINDA LOU