LOS ALAMITOS, CA — Tucked away in the back corner of Los Alamitos High School’s campus, Blake Hyepock sits in his office diligently typing on his computer as he works to oversee the new gym’s construction, one of several construction projects he will be working on as the school slowly renovates. While the school’s many remodels might seem like a daunting task, especially to an administrator so new to the school, Mr. Hyepock has been training for this his whole career. 

Mr. Hyepock was recently appointed to the position of Vice Principal of Arts, Facilities, Athletics and Activities at Los Al. Mr. Hyepock has spent a great deal of time in various administrative positions, including roles as a teacher and Assistant Athletic Director at Orange Lutheran High School and teacher, department chair, and athletic director at La Sierra High School. Overall, he has spent approximately seven years as a teacher.

Even before joining the professional world, he focused on education by getting his Master’s at Concordia University in coaching and athletic administration and later a single-subject teaching credential from Vanguard University. To add to his list of accomplishments, he also completed the Association of California School Administrators’ program for administrative credentials. As a finance major in college, Mr. Hyepock hopes to apply his experience in managing budgets and handling money in his new role at Los Al. 

The coveted position received between ten and 20 applicants who were all subjected to various rounds of questioning and written evaluations to weed out applicants. Much of the interview process, Principal Kraus shared, was to see if applicants could focus under pressure and how they would respond to certain hypothetical scenarios. 

“Mr. Hyepock went through that rigorous process process and rose up to the top of that group that applied in,” Principal Kraus said. “He has a strong background in athletics [and the arts], so I think it’s a good fit for our campus.”

As an Orange County native, Mr. Hyepock was already familiar with Los Al’s reputation, prompting him to take on the role. One of the things he was looking forward to most was working at a school that was so high achieving and had such excellent performing arts, visual arts, and athletics programs. 

“Everyone [from this area] knows Los Al and how high achieving the school is in all aspects. So again, when I saw the opportunity I couldn’t pass it up,” Mr. Hyepock said.

Gallery • 1 Photos

Sydney Forsyte

Mr. Hyepock at the Back to the Beach Dance where he helped to check students in and give them their wristbands.

The only part of his new role that Mr. Hyepock feels hesitant about is his more limited ability to interact with students.

“It has been so painful. Not being in the classroom in any capacity is definitely a big change, but definitely the direction I was trying to go professionally. It’s fortunately worked out much quicker than I was expecting, so [I] can’t complain,” Mr. Hyepock said.

Despite Los Al only being two weeks into the school year, Mr. Hyepock reports already feeling very welcome on campus. From students to administrators, he describes everyone as acting very kind in a way that makes him proud to be a Griffin.

“I think he’s been doing a really good job here early on. It’s been great. I think we have a really good team here,” Principal Kraus said.