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GUSD Board Policy 6161.1

The committee shall review instructional materials using criteria provided in law and administrative regulation, and shall provide the Board with documentation supporting its recommendations.

All recommended instructional materials shall be available for public inspection at the District Office.

At the April 24, 2025 regular meeting, the Board of Education appointed two administrators to new positions in the Gilroy Unified School District: Mark Pierce as the new Assistant Principal of Christopher High School, and Cathy Moss as the new principal of Rod Kelley Elementary School.

Mark Pierce, Assistant Principal, Christopher High School

Mark Pierce was born and raised in the Bay Area. After graduating from Menlo-Atherton High School, he obtained his AA from West Valley College with a major in History and Liberal Studies. Mark obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History with a minor in Communication Studies from San Jose State, and earned a Master of Arts Degree in Teaching Secondary Social Studies from the University of Southern California.

Mark started his career in education over 17 years ago, as a high school history teacher at James Island Charter High School in the Charleston County (SC) School District. He continued his career at Richard Milburn Academy in Daytona Beach, FL, where he was a Middle School Teacher, basketball coach, After-School Coordinator, and a mentor to many kids in the surrounding area.

In 2017, Mark moved back to California to join the Soledad School District as a Social Studies teacher and Work Experience Coordinator at Soledad High School.  He also served as an administrative designee and a summer school principal from 2020-2022.  Mr. Mark Pierce joined the Morgan Hill Unified School District as the Assistant Principal at Ann Sobrato High School in July of 2022.

Mark enjoys spending time with his wife and kids. He and his daughters, (Eden Grace and Genesis), and sons, (James and Malachi), are excited to become a part of the Gilroy Unified School District and Cougar Pride. Mark also sports, fishing, helping students, laughing, making people smile, spending time with his family, going to the gym, and watching his all time favorite movie “The Goonies.” He is excited to work with the Christopher High School faculty and families to help all students reach their full potential by providing a safe learning environment and strong instruction.

Cathy Moss, Principal, Rod Kelley Elementary School

Cathy Moss is an experienced and dedicated educator with over two decades of service in public education. She is currently serving as Assistant Principal at San Martin Gwinn Elementary, home of the Dual Immersion Multicultural Education (DIME) program, in the Morgan Hill Unified School District.  She previously served as an ELA/ELD Core Curriculum Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA) and taught Spanish at Live Oak High School.
Her teaching career began in bilingual kindergarten in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, before teaching in the Los Altos School District for 20 years, where she taught 1st - 5th grades. During her time there, she was honored as the 2004 Teacher of the Year and served as President of the Los Altos Teachers Association, and is deeply committed to fostering inclusive, high-quality education for all students.

Cathy holds a Master of Arts in Educational Administration from San José State University and a Master of Education from UCLA, where she also earned her B.A. in Spanish and Linguistics with departmental honors. A proud alumna of Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, she was a member of the Emerald Regime marching band.

Fluent in Spanish and passionate about multicultural education, Cathy has participated in study abroad programs in Spain and Mexico. She is a graduate of Leadership Morgan Hill Class of 2017.

Outside of work, Cathy enjoys family life with her husband, who works in finance, and their two high school-aged sons. She finds joy in music and sports through her sons' activities, and in her free time, she enjoys hiking, reading, traveling, visiting family on the East Coast, and fostering cats and kittens. Education runs deep in her family—her mother and both grandmothers were lifelong teachers.