School District to Select Paly's New Principal Soon

The Palo Alto Unified School District announced this week that it will recommend Kimberly Diorio to serve at Palo Alto High School's new principal.

Superintendent Kevin Skelly will make this recommendation to the Board of Education at the August 27th meeting.

"I am thrilled to serve the Palo Alto community as principal at Paly," Diorio said, "and I look forward to continuing our student-centered approach to innovative teaching and learning."

She replaces Phil Winston who recently resigned his position to return to teaching in the district.

"Mrs. Diorio is an outstanding leader who is committed to the success of all students," Skelly said. "The selection committee made up of students, parents, Paly staff and district office officials was impressed by her focus on learning and dedication to the school, staff, and parents and her professional growth over the past six years. I am extremely pleased to recommend Kim to the Board and look forward to working with her in this new role."

Diorio began her career in Pennsylvania and Connecticut schools. She moved to the Palo Alto Unified School District in 2005 to counsel students at Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School and Gunn High School. For the past six years, she has served as assistant principal at Paly.

In her role as AP at Paly, Diorio implemented systems like Naviance, Mytonomy, and Docufide, and streamlined the college application process for students, parents and staff.

Diorio received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and her Master of Science in Counseling and Human Relations from Villanova University. She's working toward her doctorate in education from Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, CA.