From Superintendent Banda to the Lowell and Hamilton communities:
I am excited today to announce the appointment of Dr. Marion Smith,
Jr. as your new principal.
Dr. Smith comes to Lowell from
Madrona K-8 where he was assistant principal during the 2011-2012
school year. He is committed to inclusive practices and will be a great
fit for the Lowell Elementary School community. He has identified
cultivating positive, constructive relationships with the community,
supporting a foundation for continuous school improvement based on
Lowell Elementary’s strengths and growth areas, and creating a shared
vision for the future as beginning priorities as principal.
Marion
Smith, Jr. served as the founding director of culture at Young Scholars
Frederick Douglass, a K-8 turnaround school in North Philadelphia. He
was previously dean of students at J.D. Smith Middle School in Las
Vegas, and has also been a middle school English Language Arts teacher,
high school English teacher, and AVID curriculum specialist for the
Clark County School District in Las Vegas. Starting his career in
education, he was a lead pre-kindergarten teacher. Dr. Smith’s
educational preparation includes an earned Doctorate of Educational
Leadership and Change from Fielding Graduate University, a Masters of
Education Administration and Supervision from the University of
Phoenix-Las Vegas campus, and a Bachelor of Science in Secondary English
Education from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He holds a
Washington State Administrative Certificate.
He was selected
after a hiring process that included input from staff and families. The
selection committee was particularly impressed with Dr. Smith’s
professional practices anchored in advocacy and equitable education, and
his dedication to working with the community. He has demonstrated a
fearless support of teachers, emphasizing access of learning for all
students, and he is philosophically aligned with our hiring goals.
Please join me in welcoming Dr. Marion Smith, Jr., to Lowell Elementary
School!
I am excited today to announce the appointment of Lucinda (Cindy)
Watters as your new principal.
Ms. Watters comes to
Hamilton International Middle School from Einstein Middle School in
Shoreline where she has been serving as Assistant Principal. She is
committed to providing supports and extending learning for all students,
and she will be a great fit for the Hamilton International Middle
School community.
Cindy Watters previously served as
House Administrator for two years at Eckstein Middle School. She taught
in Shanghai, China for three years. Before moving to China in 2005,
Cindy taught in the Puyallup School District for 11 years. She earned a
Masters of Education from the University of Washington-Tacoma and a
Bachelor of Arts in Education at Pacific Lutheran University. She holds a
Washington State Administrative Certificate.
Ms. Watters was
selected after a hiring process that began with surveying the community
on their desired principal characteristics and included extensive input
from staff and families. The selection team was particularly impressed
with her overseas teaching experience, which provides an appreciation of
and preparation for the work of an International School. She also has
strong instructional leadership experience and is dedicated to upholding
and building on the Hamilton International Middle School goals and
priorities.
Your previous principal, Chris Carter, has accepted the position of
principal at Mercer Middle School. We wish him well and thank him for
making Hamilton an excellent school. Thank you also to the Hamilton
International Middle School community for your deep involvement in
selecting your new principal.
Please join me in welcoming Cindy
Watters to Hamilton International Middle School!
I invite any thoughts you have on these two appointments as I know next to nothing about the new principals.
10 comments:
To bad Mr. Smith has never taught Special Education. That is something the staff really wanted. I hope he works out.
Sick and Tired
What is the enrollment at Lowell now that APP has been moved out?
-curious
And no mention of the APP program in the Hamilton announcement.
--NEM
The enrollment at Lowell is 210.
Erik T: 210 seems awfully small. Is that gen ed kids only, or does it also include the special ed kids whose programs are there?
Wondering
I think that the numbers are about 180 gen ed kids and 30 SPED kids. These numbers do not include the three pre-school classes.
I agree that the enrollement is low.
Thanks Erik T.
So, in the space of about 6 years, we split elementary APP (with much opposition), co-housed each program with a neighborhood program (against the express warnings of the late Mr. Stanford, who said it should not be done again), made each of the local programs an "attendance area" program -- whose numbers the District no longer controls (except after-the-fact, through boundary changes or by moving non-attendance program kids (like APP) out (which of course is exactly what happened).
We now have a big building with only 180 attendance area kids at Lowell, and an evicted APP program currently sheltering at Lincoln, but with no clear permanent home. Boy, when MGJ screws something up, she doesn't mess around!
The GOOD news (if there is any) is that the north end program wasn't really in the north end anyway. With maximum luck (which APP has rarely had -- but oh well), maybe their eviction from Lowell will result in what the district should have done years ago -- find them a permanent horth end home. That will leave only the "soon to hatch" population problem at TM, when the local population pushes out the APP program there. And since Lowell has plenty on its plate, that problem should certainly not be theirs to worry about.
The "practical news" for Lowell is, of course, that there are 210 real, live kids there who need education and want to learn -- so I guess the next step there is for the new principal to just ignore the past (it isn't her problem, she didn't cause it, and it's all in the past in any case) and tackle the joys and work of the 210 kids in her care.
I do hope, though, that Lowell's numbers grow -- because otherwise I worry that the extra space in the school will put Lowell "in play" for some new program or scheme, and it seems to me that the Lowell families have been through enough.
Bad experience dealing with Marion while he was a Vice Principal I hope he play a better role as the principal since he no longer has his bias buddy principal to back him. He may have done some good things but 1 bad thing can change the appearance of a person. Good Luck Lowell!
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