Sunrise Mountain High School welcomes Principal Dale Nicol

After Jerry Nunez resigned from the position of principal, Dale Nicol steps up and takes the throne and is ready for the school year.

 Principal Dale Nicol talks about where he worked before coming to Sunrise Mountain.

“Before here I was at Raymond  S. Kellis High School as the athletic director in 2005, and Cactus Shadows High School before that,” Nicol said. “I was the athletic director and the vice principal in 2001 to 2005”.

Nicol has always had his sights on becoming a principal.

“I applied for principal ship a couple of years so when the Sunrise job came up, I just applied again,” Nicol said. “I think it’s a great community and the faculty has been fantastic”.

Through various roles of coaching, Nicol obtained qualities that enabled him to become the most recent principal of Sunrise Mountain.

 “I coached a lot of sports, head football and softball,”Nicol said. “It was a natural progression for me to apply for principal.” 

Nicol finds it a pleasure to run a school that is willing to go out of their way to work for success.

 “It’s a very different school, in lots of ways this school is unique.” Nicol said. “The students are well organized and well prepared. The kids are really on top of things, it’s fantastic to be here.”

Nicol hopes that the school will be eager to keep moving forward. 

“I expect improvement [from the faculty and students], to get better at what they do.” Nicol said “If we are staying where we are eventually we will go backwards. We have to keep pressing forward. It’s all about improvement.”

Nicol is ready to take on any obstacles that Sunrise Mountain will throw at him.

“I don’t know if there is any one specific challenge that’s greater than one another, but getting to know what this community is all about is the hardest,” Nicol said.

Nicol is not only a principal, but a family man that loves to play sports.

 “I have three grown kids and three grand kids. My wife and I have been married for 29 years. I like to exercise; I play golf and hang out with my kids when I’m not working.”

Nicol gives his take on last year’s competitive cheer scandal.

“I don’t want to put myself in former admin shoes, but from that point, I would have had a different take, my daughter was a cheerleader and my wife was a cheer coach,”Nicol said. “I have a unique perspective from that program. I see a lot of value from cheerleading, when done right it has a big impact for the school and the spirit. I think it is an important program that I value.”