New Principal Finds Perfect Match at Lawrence

Dan Schar has more than one reason to be fond of the late physicist and Nobel Prize-winner Ernest Lawrence.

The first is obvious and understandable: Lawrence is the namesake of the local middle school where Schar just started his first year as principal.

But dig deeper and you'll find a much more personal connection, and it goes beyond Shar's background as a science teacher and his fascination with manmade elements. (Lawrence has one named after him called lawrencium.)

In addition to inventing the cyclotron to accelerate nuclear particles, Lawrence pioneered the use of radiation to battle cancer.

"That's become very much a part of our lives because … my wife is a cancer survivor," Schar said.

These kinds of personal connections seem to permeate every aspect of Schar's life, right down to his new duties as Lawrence Middle School principal.

The animated, bearded man may be 64 years old, but he knows exactly what today's middle school students and their parents are going through. That's because he's raising a youngster, too.

After one of his five children died four years ago, Schar and his wife started caring for one of their grandchildren, who now is a fifth-grader. Having someone so young in his daily life has made the principal more attuned to what's going on for families today.

"It keeps me very sensitive to what other parents are challenged with," he said.

There's another bonus as well.

"It helps us keep a good pulse on what is or is not happening, not just on campus but much more in, if you will, youth culture," he said.

A native of northwest Ohio, Schar now lives in the Conejo Valley near Thousand Oaks. He studied chemistry and biology at Taylor University in Indiana as an undergraduate and received a master's degree in education from Northern Illinois University.

Over the years he has spent time as a science teacher, counselor, and school administrator, along with a stint working in the insurance industry. Most recently he was principal at Olive Vista Middle School in Sylmar before being moved to fill the vacancy at Lawrence left by Chris Rosas, who is now at Monroe High School in North Hills.

Schar said his favorite part of his job is "seeing the light go on."

It's wonderful, he continued, to behold the moment when kids and teachers "see the value of the kinds of things that we're teaching, see how this world works together, to see how people relate. Anything that I can do to help people get along better, grow a little bit, that's where satisfaction comes."

The principal said he's excited about his new job at Lawrence, a magnet school with gifted and highly gifted students.

"I'm thrilled to be here," he said. "It's good to be a part of a community where education is held in high esteem."

Schar praised the staff and students for providing an outstanding educational experience at the school. He noted that Lawrence made a 23-point jump to surpass a score of 800 — the state's target for schools — by two points on California's Academic Performance Index.

"Now part of the challenge is to maintain the momentum that's brought us to that point," he said. "And the other part of it is to recognize and acknowledge that we've got a couple of subgroups that need to continue to build on this momentum."

That would include students for whom English is a second language and those who learn in different ways who could use additional support.

Overall, Schar said he's seen a school full of motivated students. To them, he has a message as the school year begins.

"You've been working hard," he said. "We've got to keep working hard and make sure that we show the Lawrence pride to everybody in the community."

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