Ed.D. in Educational Administration, 2001
School of Education
April 1, 2012
Professional Life is Devoted to K-8 Education
Dr. Steve Thomas has devoted his entire professional life to K-8 education. For the past 25 years he has supported students as they pursue academic success and provided effective leadership for staff and colleagues, all with the goal of providing an outstanding educational climate for the children.
During his 25-year career in education, Dr. Thomas has held positions of high responsibility at the school and district level, with student populations encompassing a wide range of diverse and socioeconomic backgrounds. He began his career as a junior high science and math teacher in the Alta Loma School District where he also served as a junior high assistant principal, junior high principal, and elementary principal.
For the past four years Dr. Thomas has been the Assistant Superintendent of Business Services for the Mountain View School District (MVSD) in El Monte. Additionally, he has served as an Adjunct Professor teaching graduate level courses at Point Loma University.
Dr. Thomas earned his B.S. in Biology from Cal Poly Pomona, an M.A. in Education from Claremont Graduate University, an M.A. in Educational Administration from Cal State San Bernardino, and a Doctorate of Education, Educational Administration from the UCI/UCLA Joint Doctoral Program. He holds both a teaching and an administrative credential and has earned various certificates from School Services of California/USC School of Business Management, the California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO), and the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA).
As MVSD’s Assistant Superintendent of Business Services, Dr. Thomas thoroughly enjoys working with the students and staff where his fiscal management and budget development skills have served the district well. Dr. Thomas is grateful for his experience in the UCI/ULCA Joint Ed.D program and he appreciates how it helped prepare him for working in a district with a student population of many English Language Learners.
In this challenging economic climate, utilizing scarce financial resources to effectively educate our students has made us do more with less. The UCI/UCLA doctoral program, with our small cohort and close interaction with instructors, allowed us as educational leaders to spend a great deal of time discussing timely issues and thereby challenging our assumptions about public education. The experience blended research and practical application, which assisted us in growing as educational leaders and thus allowing us to better serve our communities.
Dr. Thomas is happy to continue his affiliation with UC Irvine through an exciting connection MVSD has with the university through El Monte’s Promise.
El Monte’s Promise is a partnership whereby students attending elementary and high schools in the El Monte community, and meeting eligibility requirements, are granted eventual admission to Rio Hondo Community College and UC Irvine.