Students and staff in 13 of Madison’s 50 public schools will have a new principal this fall.
That’s down from the 19 schools that saw a new principal last fall, but for more than 5,000 students — about 20% of those enrolled in the district — it will mean a new top administrator in the hallways and office.
Unlike last year, when three of the district’s six high schools had a new principal, all of the changes are at the elementary and middle school levels this time.
Among elementary schools, Hawthorne, Kennedy, , Mendota, Midvale, Muir, Orchard Ridge, Thoreau and Van Hise will have new leaders this year. Badger Rock, Black Hawk, Hamilton and O’Keeffe are the middle schools with a new principal.
Turnover has been especially high in the Madison Metropolitan School District in recent years.
A 2022 Wisconsin Policy Forum report found that from 2009 to 2021, 17.6% of Wisconsin schools experience a principal transition each year on average. For MMSD this year, it’s at 26%, well above that average but down from 38% last year.
That same report cited national research indicating “principals have a substantial impact on student learning, perhaps second only to teachers among school-based factors.”
“Research further suggests that principal transitions impact student achievement as well as related factors such as teacher retention and school climate,” the Forum wrote. “The impact tends to be negative in the short term, with each transition generating an interruption of relationships, initiatives, and routines. Conditions may bounce back over time, and some turnover may bring benefits, but frequent turnover may be so destabilizing as to negate potential gains for students.”
The changes come amid significant transitions in the Madison district’s central office, as well, with Lisa Kvistad taking over as interim superintendent following the retirement of Carlton Jenkins after three years in MMSD. Other top roles including the assistant superintendent for financial services and executive director of human resources also have new people filling them, while the executive director of communications recently retired amid controversy over his treatment of employees.
Four other principals who were appointed on an interim basis last year now have those jobs permanently: Roberto Moreno Diaz at Cherokee Heights Middle School, Abby Watson at Lincoln Elementary School, Lori Lopez at Sandburg Elementary School and Chantel Angeletti at Shabazz High School.
New(ish) faces in the principal's office
Many of the new principals are familiar to the district.
Matt Inda at O’Keeffe, Joseph Rosas at Badger Rock, Rachellee Bly at Black Hawk, Vanessa Kent at Kennedy, Tamara Mouw at Hamilton, Emily Jensen at Thoreau, Eric Huttenburg at Orchard Ridge, Gwen Frank at Midvale, Marisa Flowers at Leopold Elementary, Lindsey Jones at Mendota and Lucy Sieber at Hawthorne all worked in Madison schools either immediately before this position or earlier in their careers.
Kent and Flowers worked as assistant principals last year at the schools they will take over in the upcoming year. Inda, Rosas, Bly, Jensen, Jones and Sieber all move to their new roles from administrative roles at other school buildings last year.
Former Aldo Leopold Elementary School Principal Larry Love speaks during a press conference with Gov. Tony Evers at the school in Madison in August 2022. Love is taking over as principal at Badger Ridge Middle School in Verona and has been replaced at Leopold by Marisa Flowers.
Mouw has worked at the state Department of Public Instruction for five years, but previously held an administrative role in MMSD. Huttenburg began his career as a substitute teacher here, according to the district, and most recently worked as an associate principal in the Waunakee Community School District.
Frank began her teacher career at Midvale, but most recently worked as a principal in Denver Public Schools.
The two hires with no previous experience in MMSD are Becca Stein at Van Hise and Stacey Starke at Muir. Starke most recently worked as an interim administrator at two schools in the Sun Prairie Area School District, while Stein worked as an elementary school principal in the Merton Community School District before resigning to the disappointment of many parents and staff, according to news reports.
Who is leaving MMSD or transferring roles
For Kennedy, Mendota and Badger Rock, it’s the second straight year with a new principal.
Two of the people who began last year at those schools are now in other roles with the district: Bly, who moved from Kennedy to take over at Black Hawk, and Jamie Domini, who moved from Badger Rock to become a Positive Behavior Supports coach at O’Keeffe.
Vicky Hamilton left Mendota after one year as interim principal there and is no longer working in the district.
Three other principals retired: Beth Lehman from Hawthorne Elementary School, Andrea Kreft from Muir Elementary School and John Burkholder from Hamilton Middle School.
The other eight are a mix of promotions within MMSD or leaving for another school leadership position elsewhere.
Three principals from last year left for the Verona Area School District: Larry Love left Aldo Leopold Elementary School to take over at Badger Ridge Middle School, Mary Siedl left Van Hise Elementary School to take the top job at Stoner Prairie Elementary School and Sarah Ouzounian left Black Hawk Middle School to take an associate principal position at Savanna Oaks Middle School.
Last year, three others left for positions in the Verona district, where former Madison Chief of Schools Tremayne Clardy began as superintendent in 2021.
O’Keeffe Middle School principal Tony Dugas left the school he had been at since 2014 for an administrative role in the Middleton Cross Plains Area School District. Rebecca Galvan, who had been the Midvale Elementary School principal also since 2014, left for the principal role at The American School Foundation of Guadalajara in Mexico.
Rebecca Kundert and Daniel Davidson left Orchard Ridge and Thoreau elementary schools, respectively, for roles in MMSD’s central office.
