Two Newport Beach schools will have new leaders when the 2026-27 school year officially begins. Dr. Kevin Astor takes over as principal of Newport Harbor High School and Dr. Jennifer Fox returns to lead Ensign Intermediate School, with both starting Tuesday, July 1.

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District announced the appointments on Monday, June 23.

Astor replaces Dr. Sean Boulton, who led Newport Harbor for 13 years before being named the district's Director of Facilities, Athletics, and Performing Arts Operations earlier this month. Astor brings more than 30 years in secondary education, most recently serving in the Orange Unified School District. He previously led University High School in Irvine Unified for nine years and served as principal at Capistrano Valley High School and Orangeview Junior High School. He is fluent in Spanish.

Newport Harbor's most recent graduating class numbered 520 students, with 86 percent headed to four-year or two-year colleges and $2 million in scholarships earned.

Fox is a familiar name at Ensign. She served as the school's assistant principal from 2017 to 2020 and stepped in as interim principal during the 2020-21 school year. Since 2021, she has been assistant principal at Newport Harbor High, where the district credited her with improving A-G completion rates and English learner reclassification outcomes. The district said her experience in the Newport Harbor Zone positions her to help students through the middle-school transition years.

The first day of school for NMUSD's roughly 18,000 students is Monday, August 17. No school-specific orientation dates for Newport Harbor or Ensign have been announced. The district's Back to School Kickoff Expo is scheduled for Saturday, August 1, from 9 a.m. to noon.