New principals named for Palm Springs & Desert Hot Springs high schools

The Palm Springs Unified School District announced new principals for two of its high schools and both might be familiar to their students.

On Tuesday, the PSUSD board of education named Omar Tinco as the new principal for Desert Hot Springs High School. The move will go into effect on Dec. 6.

Tinoco is currently the principal of Desert Springs Middle School, a position he has held since 2019. Prior to that, he was the principal at Bubbling Wells Elementary in 2016 and assistant principal at James Workman Middle School in 2012.

Tinoco is replacing Dr. Caroline Cota who announced that she would be stepping down from the position in late October. Cota was principal of DHSHS since 2018.

She will be moving to Martinez Unified School District in Contra Costa County, California to serve as a personnel director.

The PSUSD board also named Michael Ventura as the new principal for Palm Springs High School. The move will go into effect on Thursday, Nov. 24.

Ventura has been the school’s Assistant Principal and Athletic Director since 2018. He started his career in PSUSD in 2003 as a Sports Medicine Teacher at PSHS and developed the Palm Springs Academy for Learning Medicine (PALM).

Ventura is replacing Brian Hendra, who was recently named Director of Certificated Human Resources.