Principal appointments

[Anonymous]

Holy sh*t! That's a lot of openings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone know who is up to get appointed today?

The following schools still need principals:

Burning Tree
Carderock
Cedar Grove
Daly
Flower Valley
Jones Lane
Little Bennett
Luxmanor
Somerset
Stedwick
Wheaton Woods
Eastern
Tilden
Springbrook
Wootton

Did I miss any?

Of these, Carderock, Jones Lane, Little Bennett, Luxmanor, and Stedwick were advertised long enough ago that I think they could get appointments today.

[Anonymous]

Crossing my fingers for our Little Bennett ES

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone know who is up to get appointed today?

The following schools still need principals:

Burning Tree
Carderock
Cedar Grove
Daly
Flower Valley
Jones Lane
Little Bennett
Luxmanor
Somerset
Stedwick
Wheaton Woods
Eastern
Tilden
Springbrook
Wootton

Did I miss any?

Weller Road but likely getting announced today. Daly is still open and advertised.

[Anonymous]

Six new principals today:

[Anonymous]

Bernstein, Mascott, and Zolkower are the current principals at Forest Knolls, Harmony Hills, and Highland View, respectively, so that means there are now three more vacancies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bernstein, Mascott, and Zolkower are the current principals at Forest Knolls, Harmony Hills, and Highland View, respectively, so that means there are now three more vacancies.

Nothing on Wootton or Springbrook? Guess they’re getting acting principals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bernstein, Mascott, and Zolkower are the current principals at Forest Knolls, Harmony Hills, and Highland View, respectively, so that means there are now three more vacancies.

Mascott was the assistant principal of Harmony hills, not the principal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bernstein, Mascott, and Zolkower are the current principals at Forest Knolls, Harmony Hills, and Highland View, respectively, so that means there are now three more vacancies.

I'm a parent at FKES, Mr. Bernstein is fantastic as principal. Always very responsive and communicative when we have questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bernstein, Mascott, and Zolkower are the current principals at Forest Knolls, Harmony Hills, and Highland View, respectively, so that means there are now three more vacancies.

Mascott was the assistant principal of Harmony hills, not the principal.

Oh, thanks for the correction. Dr. McKnight said he was the principal when making the announcement!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bernstein, Mascott, and Zolkower are the current principals at Forest Knolls, Harmony Hills, and Highland View, respectively, so that means there are now three more vacancies.

Mascott was the assistant principal of Harmony hills, not the principal.

Oh, thanks for the correction. Dr. McKnight said he was the principal when making the announcement!

Interesting! He's definitely the AP--I work there

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bernstein, Mascott, and Zolkower are the current principals at Forest Knolls, Harmony Hills, and Highland View, respectively, so that means there are now three more vacancies.

I'm a parent at FKES, Mr. Bernstein is fantastic as principal. Always very responsive and communicative when we have questions.

+1. Little Bennett is lucky to have him.

[Anonymous]

What happened to the current little Bennett principal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone have any ideas about who will get Wootton?

Either Sam Levine (was an AP at B-CC and a Principal Intern at Kennedy this past year) or Vilma Najera (longtime AP at Springbrook who then became a Principal Intern as well at Quince Orchard HS this past year). Perhaps Joey Jones because Frost students matriculate to Wootton - this is the most likely as he's fantastic and has been tagged for higher things in the district for a long time. Has to be one of these three.

Don't you think Wootton's own principal intern this past year, Rohner, would be on the list? Springbrook has a principal opening as well, so Najera may be up for that.

Good question. Springbrook's principal is on leave, he's returning. Rohner has most of his experience in middle schools and would be a good choice, but in these situations they try to either get the principal from the middle school in the community (Renay Johnson from TPMS -> Blair, Mildred Charley-Greene from TPMS -> Northwood, Alicia Deeny from TPMS -> RM, John Taylor from CJMS -> Churchill) or a principal who's worked with similar communities in the past (Levine). That's why Dr. Jones is very much the clear front-runner. He has worked with high schools in the past but just moved down to the MS level. He's had his fair share of entreaties for HS and is just waiting for the right move. If they want Rohner in there, it has to be as an interim because I feel as though he needs more seasoning.

Then why was the Springbrook principal position listed on MCPS Careers earlier this month?

I never got the impression that Dr. Joey Jones wanted high school. I think he’s pretty happy with middle and having fewer evening/athletic commitments, but that could have changed. Vilma Najera seems to have a positive energy. Kudos to Beth Thomas for choosing and cultivating great APs and principal interns. I also wonder if there are any central people whose jobs have been reorganized and who now need new positions. Often they get first dibs on HS openings, in part because they were promoted to central in the first place because they were strong principals (with some exceptions, of course).

I am wondering about that too. I don't understand exactly what the new org chart means for the existing directors or associate superintendents. One associate superintendent (Dyson) has left for Frederick County. But they recently named two current directors (Moran and Floyd-Cooper) to two of the three associate superintendent of school support and well-being positions, and Monteleone was named associate superintendent of well-being, learning and achievement. So where does that leave Koutsos and Morris? They also appointed one new director, from outside of MCPS.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/departments/publicinfo/FY_2023_MCPS_StrategicOrgLeadershipStructure_OrgChart.pdf

Koutsos is retiring and Jimmy D’Andrea left for Brian Scriven’s district in Pennsylvania. Not sure about Morris. I suspect more will leave with Dyson, so they may not have additional folks to place. I wonder if they initially thought D’Andrea would go to Wootton. The job he had, I know, wasn’t the right fit for him, but he was a good principal. Glad he will be doing that again in Pa. I know of a couple middle school principals who would love that promotion to HS, but they’ve been passed over before and likely would be passed over again in favor of one of the more dynamic, up and comers like Najera.

Diane Morris was named as the third associate superintendent of school support and well-being today.

[Anonymous]

So the shuffling continues with vacancies remaining at the school level.