Steve's Bio

Bio

Stephen J. Ahle over that past 18 years he has been a faculty member of the School of Education at the California State University at San Marcos, both teaching education courses and serving as a Clinical Teaching Supervisor for Teacher Candidates.  Additionally, since retiring as a principal, he has mentored both administrative candidates and active administrators in schools while they are completing their Administrative Services Credential through Concordia University and the San Diego County Office of Education.
Recently, Mr. Ahle served as an Interim Principal at Bella Mente Montessori Academy, a Vista USD Public Charter. He has served as an Elementary School Principal in the Carlsbad Unified School District for 30 years. Under his watch, Pine, Jefferson, Pacific Rim, and Poinsettia Schools educated the students from the diverse backgrounds of the four corners of Carlsbad that comprise the Carlsbad Unified School District. He has opened two new schools, Pacific Rim and Poinsettia from the ground up, and rebuilt Jefferson Elementary to combine both of the populations previously attending Pine and Jefferson Elementary. Each of these schools has gone on to win California Distinguished and High Achieving School status from the California Department of Education.

His understanding of what makes an excellent educator has allowed him to build a learning community that responds to the needs of the students and achieves the high standards of expectation set for public schools. He has received training over the past 30 years as a site principal in Elements of Instruction, Effective Coaching and Collaboration, Cooperative Learning strategies, Learning Styles for Students, Mastery Learning Techniques, Dimensions of Learning and Thinking, and Visual Learning Using the Whole Brain. His ability to build a team and develop a community of ownership of all stakeholders in a Professional Learning Community is evident in the schools he has been appointed to in a leadership role. His efforts have built successful, on-going capacity for excellence that continues to this day in his previous schools.
Innovation and Student-centered learning were common place for the students at his schools. Programs to enhance the learning such as Odyssey of the Mind, Challenge 24, College Prep for Title I students, Language Academies for Dual Fluency, Friday Afternoon Club Education and Student Yearbook and ASB Clubs, and installed and been recognized for the State-of-the-Art Technological applications at his schools that advance the leaning inside and outside of the classroom at all 3 campuses in Carlsbad USD.
He was a teacher at the elementary with experiences at the middle and high school levels in Fountain Valley, Santa Ana, and Capistrano Unified Districts. He also coached girls and boys volleyball while in Capistrano USD.

He has presented at the California School Boards Association Conference, ACSA State Leadership Conference, and Computer Using Educators Conference. He is trained in the What Matters Most and Seven Habits of Highly Effective People/Teens/Families (Facilitator) through the Franklin Covey Company. He has served as the District Representative for the San Diego County Federal Project and Bilingual Directors, and served on the North County Program Review Consortium Directors Stephen completed his Master’s and Bachelor’s Degree at Long Beach State University, and is an alumnus of the Harvard Principals Academy, Business Mangers Academy, and Human Relations Manager Training through ACSA.

He has served as the President of the Elementary Council for the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) and was selected the San Diego Elementary Administrator of the Year in 2002. He also served as the California Representative to the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP). He has been awarded the National Distinguished Principal in 2006 (NAESP) and Professor of the Year in 2012 (ACSA) Awards. He has presented as a guest lecturer at CSUSM for classes on school finance, law and structure, and to Teacher Candidates on “What Principals Are Looking for When Hiring a Teacher.”

He serves as a panel member of the Juvenile Justice program through the Carlsbad Police Department, been

a member on the North County Gang Task Force while Principal at Jefferson Elementary, a Committee

Member of the Carlsbad Youth Enrichment Services (C.Y.E.S.)- city “safe community” committee, and the

Carlsbad Education Committee being named the 1999 Committee Member of the Year.