Redlands East Valley assistant principals Rick Batres and Ron Kroetz walk around the quad during lunch on Oct. 24, 2019. Batres and Kroetz make themselves visible and available to speak to students on a daily basis before school and during lunch. (Mauricio Pliego / Ethic Photo)

By MAURICIO PLIEGO

Even before receiving his position at Redlands East Valley High School, Rick Batres has always had some kind of involvement with the school, particularly through the family members who have attended the school over the past 8 years. Batres has lived in Redlands for 10 years now, and consequently all of his children received their education within the Redlands Unified School District. 

Batres is the newest assistant principal at REV, but this isn’t his first job in education; currently, Batres is in his 24th year in education.

With his longest stay at Rialto High School, Batres spent nearly 15 years as a teacher. Afterwards, he became an administrator in different sites across the Rialto School District for nine years, serving as an assistant principal at middle school and high school levels.

As an assistant principal, Batres will help students by encouraging dialogues, listening to them and offering advise. He does not plan on changing things at REV any time soon. “I only want to observe before I try to incorporate anything,” Batres said.

So far, Batres loves the job of assistant principal as he is able to build relationships with students, staff and parents. “The energy here is really, really cool,” Batres said. “You can feel it is a learning institution. You can feel learning occurring on this campus. It’s absolutely exciting to me.”

Rick Batres arrives early to Redlands East Valley High School each morning to get ready for the day and hold meetings with students or staff members when needed. In the half hour before the first bell rings, Batres leaves his desk to greet students and staff at the school’s main entry. (Mauricio Pliego / Ethic Photo)

Originally, when Batres was in middle school and high school, he loved to play sports and hoped one day to coach students and stay involved with sports by giving back to the community. He would later attend Cal State San Bernardino University to eventually become a teacher and coach, consequently completing a degree in physiology.

Since college, Batres has had the same quote in mind: “Always persevere, as the different ups and downs in life will get you where you want to be, if you persevere.” This mentality kept him moving forward throughout hard times, and he would like to share this quote to the students at REV.

Batres maintained that his family is his motivation to keep improving and trying his best both in work and in life. Building relationships with students and staff is another plus for him that he sees it as a main part of his job. He believes this friendliness has a positive impact on himself and the school. He also feels that the Redlands Unified School District is mainly based on the idea that “we are all family” or interconnected. 

Most of Batres’ family is a part of the district, either as teachers, staff members or even students. For example, his wife, Kelly Batres, is a teacher at Moore Middle School and Zoe Batres, his daughter, is a freshman at REV. Both Zoe and Rick Batres said they feel “a sense of security” by having family so close in the area. For Batres, he would rather spend his free time with his family over anything else. 

As Batres begins his first year as an assistant principal at REV, he hopes to have a positive impact on every student this school year. He has faith in the students and believes it will be a great school year.