MEXICO — Alexis Dascoulias said she loves everything about her new role as assistant principal of Mountain Valley Community Middle School.
Hired this summer to be an administrator for grades sixth through eight, the Livermore resident continues her career in education after seven years as the dean of students for at Winthrop High School.
“Ultimately, I was looking for something different,” Dascoulias said Sept. 10. “I didn’t know what it was. Then, this happened and it was perfect. I love everything about it. I like to continue to challenge myself and grow, and one of the things I was working on was my credential to be a building administrator, with a focus on student growth.”
Dascoulias said she has been in public education for most of the past 30 years. She also worked in charter schools and as an education director at theaters. She moved to Hawaii for a while before going back to public education.
“I adore coming back to the middle school age,” she said. “They’re figuring things out. To me, the best part of education is watching young people have those aha moments. And the middle school is when I feel they have the most aha moments.”
The middle school is part of the $92 million Mountain Valley Community School at 60 Highland Terrace that opened in January 2026 for about 1,000 students in Regional School Unit 10. It includes Mountain Valley Community Elementary School for grades prekindergarten through five who previously attended Meroby Elementary School in Mexico and Rumford Elementary School.
Mountain Valley Community School Principal Carrie Luce said Dascoulias was one of 15 people who applied for the position.
“We had a really strong pool and Lexie really stood out as the perfect fit for our building,” she said.
“It’s so important to really understand middle school students. It’s the middle from elementary but it’s also the bridge to high school,” Luce added.
Regarding the use of artificial intelligence in the school, Descoulias said it’s here and students need help to use it appropriately. “Because if we just say you can’t use it, that’s not realistic. Using it in a way that’s beneficial and healthy and ethical is the challenge.”
Dascoulias said that one of the best things about the middle school is watching the older kids help the younger ones on the first day.
“That is so important, not just to the younger students, but equally important to the older students,” she said. “There’s all these opportunities where the intergenerations can come together and help each other out.
“We always assume a mentor program where an older student help out the younger student,” she said, “but what we forget about is that the younger student is also reminding the older student what that is about and building their confidence.”
Luce added, “Children are the very best thing about this broken down world that we live in. Every single day, I look at them through the eyes of potential and you just see them coming in and it’s like what amazing thing are they going to end up doing with their life, and it starts right here.”
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