Meet our principal

Dr. Kevin Smith-Johnson has been in education for over 20 years. He began his career as an English Language Arts/Social Studies core teacher in Riverside, California where he worked for three years. After a two-year contract as a curriculum developer in high school, he returned to middle school at El Rancho in Anaheim Hills, where he spent two years as a reading intervention specialist. He then entered administration and served for the following five years as an ASB Director, CJSF Coordinator, Academic Pentathlon Coach, and Assistant Principal before leading Fulton Middle School in Fountain Valley.

In addition to a Bachelor's degree and teaching credential in English Language Arts, he also holds a Master of Arts in Cross-Cultural Education and a Master of Science in Leadership from Pepperdine University. He has also completed studies at California State University, Fullerton (School Business Management) and University of California, Irvine (Tier Two Administrative Credential) and is currently completing doctoral studies at the University of Southern California where his dissertation research analyzed the application of distributive leadership models in K-12 education.

Mr. Smith-Johnson’s guiding educational philosophy is to make every decision according to what is truly best for the students. As an Orange County native, Mr. Smith-Johnson is thrilled to be in the Huntington Beach City School District and is looking forward to continuing with us at Peterson Elementary for a long time to come.