Meet Laguna Beach High School's New Assistant Principal

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — As appeared in the Brush and Palette Student News...

Laguna Beach High School welcomes to the new assistant principal, Mr. Dale Miller. After the announced departure of the high school's assistant principal, Robert Billinger, the school searched for a replacement who would be the perfect fit and Miller filled the bill.

“I am truly excited to continue working with our students, staff, and community to collaborate on ways to continue to push LBHS to provide high-level education for our students,” said Miller. His goal is to support “families and the community to produce students who are prepared for the world beyond LBHS.”

Miller served as assistant principal at Anaheim High School for the past two years. He had previously worked for the Anaheim Union School District for 12 years as a teacher of health and science.

Miller has also been an administrative athletic trainer at the University of New Mexico and the University of California, Irvine. Athletic trainers rehabilitate student-athletes behind the scenes and watch them flourish from a distance. Similar to a school’s administrative team members, these trainers play a vital role in the team but aren’t always recognized. Miller hopes to bring his past experiences of being an athletic trainer to LBHS, continuing as a humble facilitator in his role as assistant principal.

“I’m generally the guy behind the scenes who wants to support students reach their potential and build their legacy. If there is a need, I want to be thought of as someone the students can reach out to when they need support,” said Miller.

Nikol King, who has been an assistant principal at LBHS for four years, has taken note of Miller’s forward-thinking.

“Mr. Miller sees things that are beyond the great things already taking place and has ideas he shares enthusiastically. He has been a great partner so far, and I see him making a positive impact on our school community. He is highly collaborative and supportive of my work with our school community and eager to get to know everyone,” said King.

In prior years, one assistant principal would be in charge of the curriculum and the other would be in charge of discipline. Now, all responsibilities are split down the middle.

King works with students with last names A-M, and Miller works with students with last names N-Z.

As each assistant principal will oversee academics and discipline for half of the student body, Miller and King also intend to work together to support all students, regardless of the alphabet.

“We are really focusing on mentoring students, rather than disciplining them," King said. "Our goal is to guide students through their decisions so that they make the best choices for themselves, and learn from mistakes along the way. We are always looking to refine practices that support our school community."

Story by Carly Rohrer and Ellie Ford