Almost seven months into his new position as executive director of human resources for the El Segundo Unified School District, Dr. Dylan Farris was asked if El Segundo is home base yet?

“I definitely am growing into the school district and the community here,” the former Culver City High School principal said the other afternoon.

“Hard to compare it to 13 years at Culver City Unified. It’s definitely still not quite the home that Culver City was.

“But I am finding my place here,” said Dr. Farris, who left the Culver High campus in mid-October when the plum opportunity in El Segundo opened.

The rhythms, the pace and the (smaller) size all are different in El Segundo.

When you are an administrator as invested as young Dr. Farris, the transformation, the adaptation will be gradual.

How different is your routine, especially from the last three years when you were principal at Culver High?

“Immensely,” he said.

“A very different pace with a very different focus. I don’t have the same access to students that I had in the past.”

Dr. Farris paused before continuing.

“That has been somewhat of an adjustment,” he said.

“Dealing with the grownups, mostly, at this point.”

(To be continued)