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It’s not easy getting ahold of King Middle School Principal Kit Pappenheimer, especially in the days before her school closes for the summer. 

There have been finals to supervise, meetings to hold, and, most important, a graduation to celebrate. Pappenheimer still has lots of odds and ends to finish before June 29, her last day at the school.  

“It’s going to be busy,” she said while investigating the source behind a fire alarm at the school early Monday. “Right now, I am just packing up all my stuff and getting things ready for Jason.” 

Pappenheimer will be leaving King to work at Del Mar Middle School in Tiburon. When students get back to school this fall, Jason Lustig, former principal at Cragmont Elementary School, will be taking over her position. 

“There’s one thing I really want to see get smaller at King, and that’s the achievement gap,” she said. “And I know from the work Jason has done at his previous schools, he will strive toward that.” 

The achievement gap between students of different races at King reflects the gap that exists in schools nationally, Pappenheimer said. 

“There’s a huge gap between our white kids and our African American and Hispanic kids,” she said. “The difference between whites and African Americans is especially glaring.” 

Pappenheimer said that she was leaving King to be closer to her family in Marin: “My kids are getting older and I need to spend more time with them. I need to downsize.” 

In her five years at King, Pappenheimer has seen the school change. She spent her first year as principal in portables on Rose Street, moving to a new building in the new school year. 

“Working with the Chez Panisse Foundation, the School Lunch Initiative and the Dining Commons has been interesting,” she said. “The school will have a beautiful new dining commons in fall of 2008 where the kids will be able to sit and enjoy their lunch. Right now they have to eat outside.” 

King also boasts the Edible Schoolyard—a project which has received national media attention and visits from celebrities, such as Prince Charles and Lady Camilla. 

“Although the Edible Schoolyard started a decade before I started at King, it has been exciting to share Alice Waters’ vision,” Pappenheimer said. “It has been exciting to work in Berkeley. There has never been a dull moment. I just hope that something can be done to make the size of the school less daunting. It needs to have a small community feel to it.” 

District officials credit Pappenheimer for starting Saturday School in lieu of the Summer School at King. Aimed at serving kids who were falling short of credits, the Saturday School has helped many students graduate on time every year. 

As 312 King eighth-graders were lauded by Berkeley councilmember Darryl Moore during the school’s commencement Friday, Pappenheimer stood in the background, letting her students bask in the glory. 

And yet, when the time came, she stepped forward to talk to her students, pat them on the back and impart words of motherly advice for their next big step—high school. 

“I was happy to have her as my principal for the last three years,” said eighth-grader Yessina Baeza, while posing with Pappenheimer for pictures. “She has always been there for us and I will miss her. I remember her as a person who has always helped the community.” 

Yessina’s friend Angelica Gonzales is quick to add that Pappenheimer is not strict. “She lets us get off easy,” she said grinning. 

King students might not have the same opinion of their new principal Lustig. At Cragmont, he banned candy, soda and chips and governed with a strict eye. 

“We have one of the strictest food policies at Cragmont,” Lustig said. “If we see a student with any of that stuff, we take it away immediately. It’s really funny, but one of the first things a student at King asked when he heard I was going to be the new principal was if I was going to ban chips at his school.” 

Lustig said he would wait on such food measures, but has plans to make his mark on the school immediately felt. He said he wants to initiate an active learning program and increase arts education at King. 

“I believe in small groups and hands-on work,” he said. “King does a good job with that, but I still think a lot more work needs to be done. We need to offer more different types of classes and recruit more students.” 

A product of the Berkeley public schools, Lustig graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in politics and teaching. 

At Cragmont, he was instrumental in organizing a system for disciplining students. 

“Any inappropriate physical contact, curse words, and vandalism were documented and handled appropriately,” he said. “We have very high standards for education in California, and it’s necessary to have rules in order to keep up with them.” 

He also knew all his 405 students by name. 

“I plan to do the same at King,” he said. “It’s important getting to know your students as people. I plan to know their academic progress as well.” 

King, with its 930 children and 100 staff members spread across the school’s sprawling 17-and-a-half acres, will be a change from Cragmont for Lustig. 

“I think I am ready for this change,” he said. “Cragmont has gotten better and better in the last three years. It’s a good time for me to move onto a bigger school. I want to stay in Berkeley and I love a good challenge, so I am excited about King.” 

Photograph by Riya Bhattacharjee 

King principal Kit Pappenheimer talks to eighth-graders Yessina Baeza and Angelica Gonzales after the school’s graduation ceremony at the Berkeley Community Theater Thursday. Pappenheimer will be leaving King on June 29.