Teacher Credential 1984
School of Education
March 1, 2014
Career Administrator Maintains Close Ties with UC Irvine School of Education
Tim Reece was born in San Diego County and was raised in southern Orange County, where he eventually attended and graduated from Dana Hills High School in the Capistrano Unified School District (CUSD). Upon graduating, he first attended UC Irvine in 1978 and studied Biology, then transferred to UC Santa Barbara and switched his major to English. He received his bachelor’s degree in 1982.
From there, “things came full circle in a couple of different ways.” First, he returned to UCI and enrolled in the teaching credential program, earning a Single Subject Teacher Credential in English. Second, his student teaching assignment was in his old school district (CUSD), where he continued to learn alongside many of his own former high school teachers. Finally, after traveling through England and parts of Europe, he returned again to Capistrano Unified and was hired to teach English, Journalism and Drama at Shorecliffs Middle School in San Clemente.
Mr. Reece has been with the Capistrano Unified School District for 30 years. During that time, he has worked at six different schools and held many different positions, while earning his M.A. in Educational Administration and his Administrative Credential.
After my initial tenure as a teacher at Shorecliffs and Marco Forster Middle Schools, I was hired for my first administrative position as an Activities Director at San Clemente High School. While at San Clemente HS, I was promoted to Assistant Principal, and eventually began working on the Master Schedule. From there, I was appointed the Assistant Principal of Guidance and Curriculum at Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo, creating a schedule for a school with 3000 students and 150 teachers. By March of 2000, I was Principal of Newhart Middle School in Mission Viejo, and served there for seven years. For the last seven years I have served as the Principal of Niguel Hills Middle School in Laguna Niguel. During my time in the district, I have served on numerous committees and been president of the Capistrano Unified Management Association (CUMA).
In keeping with his tendency to “come full circle,” Mr. Reece has been closely associated with UC Irvine programs over the past fifteen years.
I have served on CUSD’s Beginning Teachers Support and Assessment (BTSA) advisory committee, where I worked with several colleges, including UCI, on facilitating Induction programs for their students. Many of my teachers utilize the UCI Writing Project (UCIWP) on a regular basis, these days to great benefit in the area of the Common Core Standards. I have worked regularly with staff from the UCI School of Education to host student teachers at our school sites. For the last two years, I have been a guest panelist at UCI Ed Program’s Employment Seminar for graduating student teachers. For the last four or five years I have served on Advisory Boards for the School of Education and UC Irvine Extension’s Administrative Services Credential Programs.
These more recent associations led to an opportunity for Mr. Reece to teach two Administrative Fieldwork courses (both online) in the UC Extension Preliminary Administrative Services Credential Program. He currently is in his second year in that assignment, and “enjoying it immensely!” He continues to serve on the Advisory Board as well, and has helped revamp aspects of the program based on recommendations from the recent CTC Accreditation visit.
Mr. Reece has been married for 27 years to “my beautiful wife, Lisa”, and has three great kids: Natalie, Evan, and Sean.
In my spare time I play guitar and sing in a rock and roll band called “40 Proof”, and have an acoustic duo with my buddy Jeff. I like camping and backpacking whenever I can, which never seems to be enough.