Sergie Samborski has a fascinating background.

For starters, he has 25 years of teaching English and Psychology at the university, college and high school level.

Samborski, who was selected as the new principal / teacher for the start-up “Ripon Unified School District Continuation School” – that’s the temporary name at least for now – earlier this week, has a doctorate in Educational and Developmental Psychology and conducted a research seminar in Cognitive Science at California State University, Stanislaus.

“He’s also fluent in five or six different languages,” Board President Donna Parks said Thursday.

Plucked off the Ripon High staff, Samborski, who taught English at the high school, will be part of a two-member staff in this inaugural year of the district’s alternative education school site.

Trustees approved the plan back in February that called for helping those who struggled in the classroom meet their graduation requirements.

The state education code requires that a district must establish and maintain a continuation class at each high school.

RUSD officials hope to help students who have fallen behind in their curriculum, with some dropping off shortly after turning age 18.

Ripon High suffered a loss of about 20 students back in February. Of that, 15 were lacking in high school credits while five dropped out of school upon reaching the legal age of adulthood.

The board is optimistic that the new continuation site will help the district recoup the student-attendance numbers.

As for Samborski – in addition to his administrative duties – he will be in charge of teaching English and History at the continuation school site. “We’ll still need to find an instructor for Math and Science,” Parks said.

At RHS, Samborski taught Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition as well as English II Honors and English V.

At Modesto Junior College, Samborski, who has his masters in English Language and Literature, handled English 101.