Lafayette Principal Announced

From Dr. Enfield, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Shauna Heath as your new principal, effective July 1. Ms. Heath comes to Lafayette from the Kent School District, where she served as principal of Sunrise Elementary for the past two years. Ms. Heath is not only a great educator, but she lives in West Seattle and will be an excellent fit for the Lafayette community. Ms. Heath started her career as a special education teacher in King Salmon, Alaska and then as a special education teacher for the Shelton School District in Washington. She was the assistant principal for Tillicum Middle School in Bellevue from 1998-2002, served as an elementary school principal in Clinton, Tennessee, and was a middle school principal in Riverdale, Georgia. Before moving back to Washington state, she was the pre-kindergarten through 5th Grade Instructional Services Director for City Schools of Decatur, Georgia. Ms. Heath holds a Washington State Administrative Certification from the University of Puget Sound, and a Master of Teaching and a Bachelor of Arts from Evergreen State College. She is currently working on her Ph.D. in K-12 Leadership through Walden University.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Well she sure sounds impressive. I hope for the sake of the school that she is great.

FHP
mirmac1 said…
Yes, Lafayette is a great school.
Anonymous said…
That's a lot of moving around compared to Virginia Turner's tenure at Lafayette which lasted 7 years.

It is a great school, despite being overcrowded and stressed to the gills.

Imagine how much greater it would be if SPS could actually manage capacity. WSDWG
Anonymous said…
No mentioned of her experience working with gifted ed: this school has a strong Spectrum program. Hope she enjoys that aspect of the community, otherwise the fit won't be there. Ask Lawton, Wedgwood what it's like to have a principal that doesn't believe in a program that they ate responsible for. Did the Community get a say in who their new principal was to be, the way that TOPS got to be involved with their new principal selection process? Or was this just ordained?
--signed hope it's all good!
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Jan said…
hope it's all good: The best spec ed teachers get the fact that kids have all kinds of minds -- and that the goal is to teach kids, not teach subject matter. I have found that they are usually pretty good about picking up on the needs of accelerated/gifted kids to move at THEIR speed, just as SPED kids need the freedome and support to move at theirs (whether fast, slow, or in between).
I know nothing about this person -- but my thought was this was a better background than someone who hadn't dealt with anything outside of the "middle" of the spectrum.
seattle citizen said…
It's "THE Evergreen State College"!
Yay! That alone bodes well.
seattle citizen said…
It's "THE Evergreen State College"!
Yay! That alone bodes well.
Floor Pie said…
I agree with Jan. People who understand special needs understand that gifted is a special need, too, even if the state doesn't see it that way. Parents bring a lot of baggage to the gifted label, but at the end of the day it's just one more way to be quirky.
Jet City mom said…
Quirky is a word that TESC grads know well.
Amongst others.
Jet City mom said…
I do slightly worry about someone who is attending a for profit online only school for her phd.
She seems very ambitious, I lean toward the types that like to get to know (&love) a place myself.
SBBR said…
Hope it is all good,

TOPS as an Alternative School had a right under Board Policy to have greater say in principal hiring. MGJ ignore that policy, so if you didn't know that it might seem like the got a special deal. They just finally got to give the input all alt schools had a right to under policy. Layette had a parent on the interview team, albeit one whose day job is being an Ed Director in Tacoma. Probably less parent input than TOPS, but more than both schools had when MGJ assigned Lute-Ervin to both places.
Anonymous said…
Just to clarify, Susan Enfield (not MGJ) appointed Jo Lute-Ervin to Lafayette, without any input, and not even as an interim principal either. Given how that's unfolded, Susan Enfield needs to fully own that abysmal decision and the disastrous year Lafayette has had as a result.

Here's hoping that Shauna Heath will be a great new principal for a great school. Lafayette will welcome her with open arms!

-cautiously optimistic
Anonymous said…
There were was a lot of parent input on this selection. The panel had 5 parents and 5 staff on it. A much better way to ensure a good fit than a placement. That was a disaster. If all the bad press Lafayette and the District got this week didn't scare her away, I have hope....

Lafayette Mama
Jet City mom said…
I agree, placements are awkward at best.
Did you feel the hiring committee had a good selection of candidates?
Anonymous said…
I really wish the Lafayette community the best with the new assignment of Principal Heath. I hope that she can bring together all celebrate all the different cultures at Lafayette. I also hope that she doesn't allow the current elitist culture to continue permeate that school. All of the kids at that school deserve that. Please let all families who come to Lafayette be welcome with open arms, Instead of ostacized for not being "part of the club."

It is public education, a right for all children.

joy Anderson

Good luck, Lafayette!
Anonymous said…
Joy: "I also hope that she doesn't allow the current elitist culture to continue permeate that school."

Why do you say this?

Mr White
Anonymous said…
SBBR,
Under Supt. Goodloe-Johnson we saw an attack on our community - based innovative schools (alternative schools such as TOPS, NOVA, Middle College High School, etc). I hope that in-coming Supt. Banda will not follow MGJ's path.



--Old School Music
Charlie Mas said…
Here is a story about the new Lafayette principal in the West Seattle Blog.
Anonymous said…
"Elitist" is usually the code word for "Spectrum", typically used by those that want to dismantle the advanced learning program altogether.

Here We Go Again
Anonymous said…
Joy- I'm sorry if you had a negative experience at Lafayette, but I really don't agree with any of your comments about elitism at the school. People at Lafayette are warm, friendly, engaged and engaging. There are many opportunities for new families to get involved and meet people, and over the last 12 years that I've been a part of the Lafayette community, I've NEVER seen anyone be excluded and never felt any elitism. Any chance you could lay off on your prolific comments related to this elitist slam? We've been a community under siege this year, and we could do without the attacks.

-I Love Lafayette
Anonymous said…
I'm really excited about having Ms. Heath join Lafayette. I wasn't able to find much about her on the internet, but coincidentally, I met someone whose kids go to Sunrise. He told me that the families, teachers and students at Sunrise adore Ms. Heath. He said that his kids had actually cried when they found out she was leaving. I'm so sorry for Sunrise's loss, but am so optimistic about what Ms. Heath could bring to Lafayette. I hope Sunrise gets a great new principal, and I can't wait for Ms. Heath to join Lafayette!

-Optimistic mom
Anonymous said…
Lafayette is an amazing school with a wonderful group of hardworking teachers. Assistant Principal Karmen Nordhougen has done an impressive job taking on many of the principals responsibilities. The recently moved principal wasn't much more than a warm body. Sad that she gets to make over $100,000 sitting downtown. But it is part of the principal dance.
Like many schools there are families that have very different experiences at Lafayette. I also have heard from parents and staff that SOME parents can be High-maintenance and somewhat elitist. I know parents that will not send their kids to Lafayette because of the elitist vibe. Having the opportunity to experience many Seattle schools Lafayette can seem to be both those things.
That said it is one of the better schools in the district. Parents, teachers and staff need to relax and work with the new principal. Hopefully the few teachers who feel that they walk-on-water will be willing to work as a team and FOLLOW THE RULES.

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