About Mark Balch
Mark Balch is an experienced high school administrator who has served in various leadership roles throughout his 29 years in education, 23 of which have been in administration. His educational leadership experience is at the school site and district levels, focusing on promoting student well-being, academic success, and social-emotional growth through community engagement and instructional change.
In 2023, Mark became the Director of New Teacher and Migrant Support in the Kern High School District (KHSD) in Bakersfield, California. KHSD is the state’s largest K-12 District, serving more than 43,000 students.
He received his doctorate in Organizational Leadership from the University of La Verne, his master’s in Educational Administration from California State University (CSU) Bakersfield, and his bachelor’s in History from The Master’s College, Newhall.
Mark’s Accomplishments with KHSD
Mark Balch is trusted to lead various schools at nearly all levels within the Kern High School District. In his leadership role, he has managed budgets of millions of dollars and written grants for millions of dollars in funding.
The Kern High Teacher Residency program, a collaborative with CSU Bakersfield that provides new teacher support, has become one of the largest residencies statewide under his leadership. As Director, Mark oversaw the program’s 100% growth to 40 teachers and 40 mentors for 2024-2025.
Also, under Mark’s leadership, KHSD’s Kern High Induction Program was recently recognized with full certification for seven years. Its Migrant Support program boasts a graduation rate of greater than 98% and serves more than 200 students and parents biweekly through Saturday academies.
He is also a member of the KHSD Joint Committee, which comprises three California Teachers’ Association members and three KHSD administrators. He focuses on mentoring teachers and providing professional development.
Prior Career Experience
Principal, North High School
Before working as Director at the KHSD, Mark Balch was the principal at his alma mater, North High School, in Bakersfield. His son also attended and graduated from North High School during Mark’s tenure. The school has a student enrollment of 2,200.
During Mark’s nearly eight years as principal at North High School, he developed and implemented a career-based pathway program, including one of the state’s first high school aviation programs. He developed strong relationships with community leaders to promote positive change in a high-poverty community. For example, he worked with the Rural Economic Development Philanthropy Innovation Network (REDPIN) and community leaders, including Bakersfield Mayor Goh, Kristen Watson (Kern Community Foundation CEO), and Eugene Voiland (former Aera CEO, current Chairman of Valley Republic Bank).
Mark also led the change to promote a data-driven decision-making model for instructional and behavioral decisions, which resulted in a Platinum Award from the CA PBIS commission in 2022.
As principal, he received the 2018 Regional Star Administrator award from the California Future Farmers of America (FFA).
He leveraged California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant (CTEIG) funds to provide industry-standard learning labs for students.
Instructional Services Director, Kern High School District
Mark served as Instructional Services Director for KHSD from 2011 to 2015. During that time, he developed and led an Assistant Principal’s Forum, providing district-wide training for all assistant principals while establishing a mentorship program between experienced and new administrators in the KHSD. He also oversaw instructional design, professional development, and textbook adoption to implement the Common Core State Standards.
Mark’s responsibility as Director also included aligning common assessment practices with the largest K-8 school districts citywide so that the District received English and Math assessment data (Star Renaissance) for proper placement recommendations at grade 9.
He cultivated partnerships with local colleges and universities (CAPP program) to align instructional practices and to develop dual-enrollment courses for high schools.
His other accomplishments include significantly revising the process to transition and reclassify English Learner students, leading to a 12% overall increase in the district reclassification rate. He also expanded AVID professional development and growth in several KHSD AVID sites, including work-to-hire college students as AVID tutors on school sites.
Assistant Principal of Instruction, East Bakersfield High School
For four years, Mark was the Assistant Principal at East Bakersfield High School, where he developed the school’s master schedule while guiding department leaders and counseling staff daily. He also led and evaluated a staff of 80 teachers.
Mark’s career also includes serving as Assistant Principal of Administration at West High School in Bakersfield; Project Manager of the Safe Schools Healthy Students Federal Grant for KHSD, where he worked with the District to address concerns involving youth violence and substance abuse; and Dean of Students at East Bakersfield High School, where he was responsible for school safety and student discipline issues schoolwide.
He taught at Highland High School and Fruitvale Junior High School early in his career.
Volunteer Work, Affiliations
For the past seven years, Mark has volunteered at City Serve Bakersfield, a program that brings together dynamic community leaders and local churches to provide education and hope. The program serves migrant families throughout the community at its Migrant Saturday Academies.
He also volunteers with a video production lab headed by a local news anchor.
Mark is a table leader in the Armor Up men’s ministry and volunteers with multiple leadership and service teams at Canyon Hills Assembly of God in Bakersfield.
Mark was a founding member of the Oildale Community Action Team for seven years, working with government agencies to help bring people out of poverty and beautify the crime-filled community.
For many years, he led the Bakersfield Rotary’s Business Leadership and Ethics committee and was a member of the Bakersfield Lions Club.
