Principals Named for Lowell and Hamilton
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.
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.
Comments
Sick and Tired
-curious
--NEM
Wondering
I agree that the enrollement is low.
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.