The new principal of Discovery High School said he learned a valuable lesson about hard work from his single mother who toiled at two jobs to pay bills.
“If she could do it, so could I,” Christopher Morris said of his mother’s nose-to-the-grindstone approach.
Morris replaces Discovery High’s acting principal Marnie Lynch, who was serving in a dual role as a Natomas Unified School District administrator. She will remain in the latter position, working full-time on development of the new middle school to be located on the Natomas High School campus.
A Sacramento resident, Morris had been commuting daily to serve as vice principal at Vallejo High School. His resume includes stints as a teacher in the San Juan and Elk Grove school districts, and as an administrator in the Elk Grove, Plumas Lake and San Juan districts.
At Discovery High, Morris is committed to expanding options for rigorous courses meant to prepare students for college or careers. Not every student will enroll in a four-year college, but every student should be given a chance to pursue that option, he said.
“If we limit their opportunities, it’s going to limit their choices later in life,” Morris said.
Asked to describe himself, Morris said a friend and former co-worker once said she thinks of him as relentless but with a sense of humor. He prides himself on “building relationships with people from all sorts of backgrounds.”
Morris, who recently earned a doctoral degree in educational leadership, decided upon a career in public education after working in a group home, serving juvenile offenders, when he was in his early 20s. He said Discovery High, an alternative school with about 200 students, is a perfect fit for him.
“These are students who need us the most,” Morris said. “What happens here is going to shape the rest of their lives.”
In a letter to the Natomas community, Morris wrote: “Education is the gateway for future success and as an entire community we need to guarantee that our students will be competitive in the global economy of the 21st century.”
Morris and his wife, Lori, have two daughters, ages 11 and 12. In his spare time, Morris watches a lot of youth soccer and is president of a local swim team. He loves sports and was raised in Los Angeles, so Morris is a big Los Angeles Dodgers baseball fan.
Morris is no stranger to one Discovery High school student, Stephanie Soto. He was her principal when she attended Riverside Meadows Intermediate School in Yuba County about five years ago. “”I feel like the kids will look up to him,” she said.
“He knows how to discipline people, but when you need help, he always has the right answer,” Soto said. “He knows how to help you out. “
