HCA Super Post Is His Calling

Ken Alvarez is convinced a higher power guided him to Hernando Christian Academy.

"This school was a good fit for my background and experiences," Alvarez said. "I was led by the Lord to help HCA."

Now Alvarez is leading the school.

The school's board of directors has tapped him to serve as superintendent. He had been working as secondary principal at the private school on Emerson Road when Ron Watford, who served as superintendent for two and a half years, resigned.

Watford "decided it was time to move on," Alvarez said. The board formed a search committee to find a replacement and Alvarez filled in as interim superintendent.

The superintendent oversees all operations at the school, including administrators and a teaching staff of about 32. Alvarez struck the board as a natural, said board member Bobby Sullivan.

"It became immediately apparent that our next superintendent was among us," Sullivan said. "He's got a lot of support from the administration team. I don't think he could have not taken (the job)."

It's the first time a superintendent has been hired from within since the school was founded in 1981, Sullivan said.

A native of New York City, Alvarez moved with his parents to Tampa at the age of 3 and never left.

He graduated from King High School in Tampa and earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees in education from the University of South Florida.

Alvarez spent several years as a teacher and athletics coach Hillsborough's public school system, with stints at East Bay, Hillsborough and Leto high schools.

He got his first private school job at the Academy of Holy Names in Tampa. He then worked for 17 years as secondary principal at Tampa Baptist Academy.

He most recently served as middle school principal at St. Petersburg Christian School.

Alvarez said one of his challenges will be to help the school weather the current economic storm. Enrollment is currently at 335, well short of the 400 students projected.

That makes a "tight" budget event tighter, Alvarez said. But the school has so far avoided layoffs.