As the 2025-2026 school year comes to a close, we must say goodbye to our beloved seniors, teachers, and, this year, our principal. During her term, Dr. Analese Alvarez has fostered a positive attitude and made significant contributions to our UHS community. To send her off with a proper goodbye, the Ukiah High News Team asked staff to reflect on their time with Dr. Alvarez and the impact she has had on Wildcat Nation.
Chris Douthit, Chair of the English Department and Director of the Drama Department, shared, “Dr. Alvarez has been a very big supporter of the Drama program and has helped me to facilitate some important changes and get some materials that we desperately needed. I thank her for that.”
Douthit continued with the impact Alvarez has had at Ukiah High: “She really accentuated focusing on positive things. For example, she began staff meetings with an opportunity to celebrate victories from around the school, and people have become accustomed to doing this.”
He also expressed his regret about Alvarez’s departure: “It’s a shame that she’s leaving now because I feel like we were all just getting to know her, and it’s a bummer that we won’t be able to get to know her more.”
Adam Lane, Chair for the Science Department, highlighted how Dr. Alvarez’s contributions to the new bell schedule have led to more beneficial tutoring for his Chemistry students. He added, “She also helped to shepherd better practices in grading within departments.”
Lane noted Dr. Alvarez’s attendance at some of the Science Olympiad competitions. “It’s been really neat to see a principal support extracurriculars.” He added, “She’s been very supportive of all of the labs and activities we like to do, including the science department’s demonstrations.”
Gretel Palmerin, a member of the Math Department, shared her experience and memories with Dr. Alvarez, praising her for the accomplishment of U-Time and its impact on her department. “I’ve been able to make a lot of use out of U-Time, like really trying to target students who need help,” said Palmerin.
She continued with a memory during Dr. Alvarez’s first year on campus, and the immediate support she offered to Palmerin after hearing about her personal hardships. “I was not expecting her to want to listen to what was going on in my life. It showed me that she wanted to know and that she cared.” Palmerin concluded, “I really appreciated that about her.”
Andrea Tarin shared her favorite part about being Dr. Alvarez’s assistant. “I feel very safe being open and honest with her. We’ve bonded together. We have some similarities and differences, but overall we work really well together and trust each other.”
Tarin said that during her time here, “Alvarez pushed to have student voices heard and be considered more within decisions made on campus.” She further expressed, “Unless students are running for office, we don’t consider that there are a lot of other voices–not in ASB–with opinions that also need to be heard.”
Tarin’s favorite memory of being Dr. Alvarez’s assistant was “the little jokes” they shared, and some similarities in music and TV shows. She explains, “We have some nerd-out moments. She’s a much more accomplished nerd than I am, but, you know, we’re both Buffy fans.”
Tarin closed by saying that she will miss “the ease of the relationship. It’s always hard to start over with any relationship. I greatly appreciate her time here, and she will be missed.”
The News Team sat down with Dr. Alvarez for a final interview to reflect on the special memories she has and what she hopes to leave behind for Wildcats.
We asked Alvarez to reflect on her accomplishments while at UHS. “I think the biggest one would have to be our bell schedule. When I started in 2023, I worked with the teacher leaders on campus and with the district to keep a form of block schedule while also embedding U-time.”
Dr. Alvarez also brought up Minga, a school-based app for all Ukiah High Students that helps disperse important information. She expressed her enthusiasm for Wildcats’ engagement with Minga: “It’s exciting that a student might log into a school app on the weekend and look at the school calendar or see some sort of event that’s going on.” Alvarez hopes that after she is gone, students will continue to utilize Minga because it helps them feel more connected to campus.
She told us that her favorite part of being principal was “how welcomed I was by the school and the community.” She also noted how Ukiah High has “great bones” when describing the previously established systems that made changes such as the new schedule and Minga more successful than the schools she’s been with prior.
Back when Dr. Alvarez first arrived, UHS News asked her to share one thing she was most excited to experience, and she said homecoming. We asked her if homecoming lived up to her expectations, and she replied: “I would say it exceeded my expectations because I’ve been an educator now for 26 years, and this is the fifth high school I’ve been at, and none of them are anywhere close to this.”
She continued, “In Vegas, they had floats per class, but it wasn’t a class competition. They just made floats, and they drove them around the track on homecoming night. Everywhere has homecoming dances, so that was the same, but the week-long activities, the competition, and the warehouses, the whole thing, totally exceeded my expectations. I likely will not land anywhere again that has all of this stuff.”
Dr. Alvarez also shared that she wished she could have achieved more. “I know I’m leaving early. I wanted a minimum of five years, and unfortunately, it’s just not working out that way.”
Even though she is leaving, Dr. Alvarez was excited to share an exclusive with us for the upcoming school year: “We are going to have a wellness center on campus next year. So we’re setting that up now. And the idea is that it’s a place that all students can go to if they need social, emotional, and mental health support.”
She also noted that the wellness center will be a collaboration between the Leadership, Frosh Advisory, Peer Counseling, and Campus Culture classes.
To conclude, we asked Dr. Alvarez what she’s learned during her term as the UHS Principal. She highlighted, “I’ve learned that when you have a really good school, it’s really easy to come in and be a principal and bring in some ideas and work together with people.” The message she hopes to leave behind is, “This is a really good school filled with really passionate teachers and really passionate employees.”
During our interview, it was made clear that this decision isn’t easy for Dr. Alvarez. We shared a heartfelt moment with her at the conclusion of the conversation. She ended with, “I’m sad that I’m leaving now. Ukiah’s a great place to be, and this school’s a great place to be. Obviously, I have to go help with my mom, who’s not well. But I’m very excited for the future of the school, even though I’m not going to be part of it.”
Ukiah High thanks Dr. Alvarez for her years of service and commitment to our school community and wishes her success in all future endeavors.
And as Dr. Alvarez always says, Gooooo Wildcats!
