Principal Assignments

There have been some principal assignments announced recently.

The District hasn't provided a press release, so let's see what we can put together here.

New Principals for 2010-2011: (I'll edit this post as people fill in the information)

Bagley - ??? (Kimberly Kinzer to teaching)
Coe - ??? (David Elliott to Queen Anne)
Green Lake - Joanne Bowers (Cheryl Grinager to McDonald)
John Hay - Karen Hanson (Dan Warren to Sand Point)
Interagency - Kaaren Andrews (Cindy Nash to Middle College)
Lawton - ??? (Beverly Raines to retirement?)
Madison - Henterson Carlisle (had been interim)
Madrona K-8 - Farah Thaxton (Kaaren Andrews to Interagency)
McGilvra - Mary Lane (Birgit McShane to ???)
Middle College - Cindy Nash (John German to retirement)
North Beach - ??? (Joanne Bowers to Green Lake)
The Center School - Oksana Britsova (Lisa Escobar to Rainier Beach)
West Seattle Elementary - ??? (Gayle Everly to ???)
West Seattle High School - ??? (Bruce Bivins to outside the district)

Comments

seattle said…
Why do they always announce principal assignments just a week or two after open enrollment closes? If a family doesn't like the principal it's to late for them to apply for a different school, they're stuck with whatever they get. The district did that last year too and while I'm no conspiracy theorist, it has to be more than coincidence.
5/11/10, 6:20 AM
Charlie Mas said…
They announced some principal changes earlier in the year, such as Kaaren Andrews at Interagency.

Many of the announcements are driven by retirements - either directly or indirectly - and people often declare their intention to retire at a time that maps the replacement announcement to about this time.

In many cases the school communities are in the process of interviewing, so the news that a principal is leaving is often public or available. If the replacement principal comes from a current post, then that person's news comes later.

It is an unfortunate coincidence, much like the RIF announcements coming at the same time as Teacher Appreciation Week.

I do wonder why the District hires so many principals from outside when we have all of those former principals working in the Central Administration.
5/11/10, 6:42 AM
justamom said…
Due note that Lawton does not have a principal for next year. We are anxiously awating news of what is to happen at our school. Mrs. Raines is out on family leave. She could come back next year but that would be ridiculous! Kathy Bledsoe has stepped in as interim P and had done a fantastic job!
5/11/10, 7:00 AM
TechyMom said…
Does anyone have first hand knowledge about Madrona's new principal, or Victory Schools, the east-coast charter company where she most recently worked? Their mission sounds like more of the same, but some of their schools offer arts, language immersion and other iteresting programs.

Will she be able to get past the first impression of "Charter Academy Principal" to bridge the deep divide in this neighborhood?

Uniforms are probably ok (The competing neighborhood schools, St. Therese and Epiphany, both have them), though theirs are actually cute. 'Lazer focus on core subjects' (no arts, music, field trips) and 'extended day' (no recess, plus an extra hour of school) seem to be the sticking points, along with a culture that values conformance over free expression. Is it possible to build a program that will be acceptable to the whole neighborhood? Can this principal do it? Or will she keep Madrona an academy-style school, while the neighborhood kids go to Epiphany, St. Therese, St. Joes, TOPS and ORCA?
5/11/10, 7:01 AM
Anonymous said…
I'm pretty sure Farah Thaxton was a kindergarten teacher at Whittier from 2004-2006. I don't remember much about her, but don't recall anything negative, if I'm remembering the name correctly.
5/11/10, 7:52 AM
Unknown said…
Curious, who are "all of those former principals working in the Central Administration?" Susan Derse is out at Interagency, who is left in Cenral Administration? Are you thinking about people like Veronica Gallardo and Cathy Thomas who have been promoted after having been principals?
5/11/10, 9:26 AM
Anonymous said…
John Hay Elementary- new principal is Karen Hansen (she's currently the head teacher). Dan Warren is going to Sand Point Elementary.
5/11/10, 11:10 AM
SP said…
Bruce Bivins, principal at West Seattle High School has just announced that he is leaving the district.

Henterson Carlisle, the appointed temporary principal at Madison this year (after Jill Hudson left last year for Hale) announced recently that he's expecting to remain as principal (no hiring committee has been discussed).
5/11/10, 3:37 PM
Melissa Westbrook said…
Bruce Bivens has been at WSHS maybe 2+ years. Hmm, maybe he got a better offer? The way the new SAP got set up it seems some WSHS folks feel their school will shrink. Wonder if that's any part of it?
5/11/10, 4:07 PM
wsnorth said…
WSHS has gone from full with wait list to 40 open seats this year, mostly due to inequitably drawn feeder patterns under NSAP. It is a shame.

WSHS seems to have improved a lot in the last few years, but could use a more charismatic leader to take it through the coming tough times. Too bad Dr. Hudson "got away" from West Seattle before this opening!
5/11/10, 5:35 PM
katiew said…
There will be no new principal assigned to Bailey Gatzert. Greg Imel is our current principal and will remain at least throughout the 2010 - 2011 school year. We are lucky to have him.
5/11/10, 6:44 PM
yumpears said…
http://westseattleblog.com/2010/05/west-seattle-high-school-principal-bruce-bivins-leaving

Bruce Bivins is going to LA.
5/11/10, 7:56 PM
Melissa Westbrook said…
Katie, glad to hear you are happy with Greg Imel. I was happy with him when he was at Whitter as well.
5/11/10, 10:29 PM
SP said…
from Bruce Bivins:
"I have accepted a small school principal position at the Academy of Environmental and Social Policy. This will be one of seven small schools that are being formed at Roosevelt High School in Los Angeles collaborating in a joint venture with the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools".
*******************************************
So- it looks like this is part of LA's charter schools. The school is huge with 3,700 kids, but he will be principal of only one of 7 SLC-type academies with only 400-600 kids. I don't know how they can afford seven SLC principals (plus one head principal?).

Key elements to the LA Partnership model:
School performance report cards, MyData Dashboard, system-wide PD, Increased parent engagement, and new funding structure.
Sounds familiar?

http://www.partnershipla.org/about/
5/12/10, 9:54 AM
dan dempsey said…
try THIS

Roosevelt High School in Los Angeles ranks in the bottom 10% in California but in the bottom 40% of similar schools.

--- Eli Broad lives in LA.

Best Wishes to Mr. Bivins
5/12/10, 3:19 PM
seattle said…
Hale is getting a new Assistant Principal but we don't know who it is yet.
5/12/10, 4:36 PM
TechyMom said…
Lowell is also supposed to get an assistant principal, based on higher-than-expected enrollment makIng us a "large" school. We also don't know who yet.
5/12/10, 4:54 PM
mary s said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
5/13/10, 8:19 AM
mary s said…
Check out this Craigslist post:

Elementary Principal For A Transformation School
Seattle Public Schools

Posted today by Koya Consulting. I'm surprised the normal pool wasn't deep enough to fill this position.
5/13/10, 8:23 AM
Charlie Mas said…
Today the District issued a press release about principal appointments.

"Ms. Oksana Britsova, The Center School; Ms. Karen Hanson, John Hay Elementary; Ms. Farah Thaxton, Madrona K-8, and Ms. Mary Lane, McGilvra Elementary. In addition, Ms. Joanne Bowers has been transferred from North Beach Elementary to Green Lake Elementary."
5/13/10, 4:31 PM
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