Arlington ISD
The Arlington ISD Board of Trustees has made three administrative appointments.
Karen Hill was named executive director of secondary instruction for the district. Her education career began in 1975 in New Orleans, La., where she was a speech pathologist and instructor for fourth and fifth grade auditory-impaired students. Subsequently, she was the speech pathologist for the Child Study Center in Fort Worth. She came to Arlington ISD in 1980, as the supervisor of special education. In 1987, she was named assistant director of the program. She went on to serve as principal of Knox and Webb elementary schools and was promoted to director of special education for Arlington ISD in 1997. She was awarded a bachelor’s degree from St. Mary’s Dominican College in New Orleans and earned her master’s degree from Louisiana State University Medical Center.

Cindy Powell is the district’s new associate director of finance. A CPA, she began her career as a staff accountant for KPMG Peat Marwick in 1986. Two years later, she became an auditor officer for the Ford Bank Group. In 1990, she began work in the public schools as an internal auditor for Lubbock ISD, a position she then held in Arlington when she joined the district in 1993. She was promoted to director of accounting in 1996 and to executive director of finance in 1999. Powell earned her bachelor’s degree at Texas Tech University.

Debbie Williams has been appointed to the position of executivedirector of elementary instruction. A 30-year education veteran, her career began as a teacher in Bryan ISD. She joined Arlington ISD in 1979 as a fourth grade teacher at Key Elementary School, where she remained until 1982. She then spent eight years as a private tutor for kindergarteners through 10th grade students, returning to Key Elementary in 1990 and subsequently moving to Duff Elementary. In 1993, she returned to Key once more, and the following year was promoted to sixth grade team leader at the school. She was named assistant principal of Dunn Elementary in 1997 and principal in 2000, a position she held until her most recent appointment. Additionally, Williams has served on the district’s safety committee and is a member of the elementary advanced academics committee. She is also a school administrators’ skills assessment appraiser with ESC Region 11. Her bachelor’s degree was earned from the University of Texas and her master’s degree from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Austin ISD
Vickie Gaudin Bauerle will serve as the principal of a new, as yet unnamed, middle school, slated to open in August in Southwest Austin. In addition to positions with Alief and Clear Creek ISDs, Bauerle has served in Austin ISD as an assistant principal at Bowie High School and as a social studies curriculum specialist at Small, Covington and Lamar middle schools. Bauerle has a bachelor’s degree from The University of Texas; her master of education degree was awarded from the University of Houston.

Bremond ISD
Walt Fenn is the district’s new superintendent, coming to Bremond from his most recent position as principal of Stafford Middle School.

Channelview ISD
Robert Worthy has been appointed assistant superintendent of the district. He comes to Channelview from Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, where he served as principal of Cypress Falls High School.

Commerce ISD
The Commerce ISD Board has named Blake Cooper as the district’s new superintendent. He comes to Commerce from Kaufman ISD, where he has served as assistant superintendent since 2006. An educator with 27 years of experience, he has taught and coached in Winnsboro, Garland, Sulphur Springs and Sheldon ISDs, and he has served as an instructor and coach at East Texas State University. In 2001, he became school principal and head football coach in Edgewood. The following year he took on the role of principal full time, and he remained in that role until his move to Kaufman. Cooper was a member of the Texas A&M University at Commerce football team, from 1978 to 1981.

Cypress-Fairbanks ISD
Becky Denton, formerly associate principal of Cypress Falls High School, is now the school’s principal. Her entire education career has been spent in Cypress-Fairbanks. She began as a teacher at Jersey Village High School, where she taught for nine years before serving as the school’s assistant principal for a year. For the last eight years, she has been an administrator with Cypress Falls High, first as its director of instruction and then as the associate principal. Denton’s bachelor of science degree in elementary education was earned from Texas A&M University, and her master of education degree from the University of Houston. She is certified in secondary English language arts and as a mid-management administrator.

Lamar CISD
Ray Elementary School Principal Diane Parks received the Terrel H. Bell Award for Outstanding School Leadership. One of only five principals nationwide to receive the honor, Parks traveled to Washington D.C. in October to attend the No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School awards ceremony. Named for  the former U.S. Secretary of State, the Terrel H. Bell Award recognizes outstanding school  leaders and the vital role they play in overcoming difficult public school circumstances. Bell worked in 1982 with the National Association of Elementary School Principals to found the Blue Ribbon Schools program and the National Distinguished Principals program.

Little Elm ISD
At a special called board meeting in November, it was announced that Jason Huffman, principal of Brent Intermediate School, would join the district’s department of instruction as a district instruction facilitator. Replacing him in the role of principalBrent Intermediate will be Kristi Hargrove, until this time the associate principal at Little Elm High School. Hargrove has served as the lead principal for ninth graders at the school for the past two years at Little Elm High School Ninth Grade Academy. Prior to coming to Little Elm in 2006, she was an educator for 15 years, serving in Dallas and Temple ISDs.

Kathleen Kamphaus, currently a ninth grade counselor, will move into the position of associate principal at Little Elm High, overseeing the Ninth Grade Academy. With 22 years in education, she served four years as an assistant principal and principal in Whitesboro ISD.

Lockhart ISD
Jose L. Parra is Lockhart ISD’s new superintendent. For the past three years, he has served as assistant superintendent of Kerrville ISD, where he was responsible for the administration and human resource operations of the 4,800-student district. Prior to his role in Kerrville, he was a campus administrator in Wylie ISD for eight years, five of those as a principal. He began his career as a teacher in Seguin and New Braunfels ISDs, and then was a district-level administrator before becoming a campus administrator. Parra earned a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from The University of Texas at San Antonio; his mid-management certification is from Trinity University. His doctorate was awarded from Columbia University in New York. Parra is certified as a superintendent in New York, Pennsylvania and Texas.

Jasper ISD
John Whittemore, formerly of ESC Region 4, is the new superintendent. At Region 4, he was an educational consultant. Previously, he served as superintendent of Santa Fe and Bells ISDs and of Healdton Public Schools. He has been a high school principal and a central office administrator. Whittemore earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of North Texas.

The new assistant principal of Clark High School is Joseph Murguia,  formerly a special education teacher at the campus. His Northside ISD career began as a special education teacher at Holmgreen Junior/Senior High School, followed by a stint at O’Connor High. He then served as an administrator in North East ISD and at the KIPP Aspire Academy, before returning to Northside ISD in his most recent role at Clark High. Murguia  holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of the Incarnate Word, and master’s degrees from The University of Texas at San Antonio and Trinity University.

Thomas S. Smith is now director of engineering services. He brings to the position 17 years of experience in facility engineering and construction,  aerospace materials and process engineering, and inventory and production planning management. Prior positions include work at Brooke Army Medical Center, the San Antonio Air Logistics Center at Kelly Air Force Base, the University Health System, and CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Healthcare. His bachelor’s degree was awarded from The University of Texas and his master’s degree from The University of Texas at San Antonio.

Eric Walls is the new director of purchasing, replacing Ron Gerth,  who is retiring after 38 years. For the past six years, Walls has been the assistant director of purchasing. He holds a bachelor’s degree from The University of Texas.

Richardson ISD
Twenty-three new administrators are in place at Richardson ISD. They are: Sandra Brehm, director of assessment; Sarah Brightwell,coordinator of the PACE program; Brenda Clark, administrative accounting manager; Tim Clark, director of communications; Matthew Gibbons, director of special education; Christopher Goodson, executive director of elementary curriculum and instruction; Robin Gunter,library media program specialist;  Donna Johnson, assistant superintendent of human resources; Jenny Kelly, elementary music coordinator; Bradley Kent, director of fine arts; Duana Kindle,executive director of special education; Gregory Lee, student services program specialist; Pamela Linton, executive director of human resources; Shruti Mehta, technical engineer/manager; Vicki McIntosh,director of organizational development; Brenda Payne, executive director of elementary curriculum and instruction; Julie Pechersky,special programs diagnostician; Lysa Rice, director of after-school programs; Erin Roberson, special programs psychologist; Ricardo Romanillos, director of secondary science; Idalia Stovall, coordinator of assessment; Bridget Toro, special programs diagnostician; andJennifer Wright, special programs diagnostician.

Round Rock ISD
The new principal of Round Rock High School is Philip Warrick. Most recently the superintendent of Waverly Public Schools in Waverly, Neb., he has eight years of experience as a high school principal. In 2005, he was named Nebraska State High School Principal. Warrick received his bachelor of science degree from Chadron State College in Chadron, Neb., and his master’s degree in education from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

San Felipe Del Rio CISD
The new superintendent is Kelt Cooper, until recently the director of technical assistance for the office of English language acquisition in the Arizona Office of Education.

 

Dr. Fermin Calderon Elementary has a new principal, Jose F. Perez. A member of the district’s faculty and staff for 15 years, he was most recently assistant principal of Del Rio High School; prior to that position, he taught science at San Felipe Middle School. Perez holds a bachelor’s degree from Angelo State University and a master of education degree from Sul Ross State University.

San Marcos CISD
Joy Philpott is the director of school improvement and accountability; she previously was the program’s coordinator.  She also has served as academic dean of San Marcos High School. Prior to coming to San Marcos, she was an English teacher and assistant principal at Lockhart High School. Her bachelor’s degree and two master’s degrees are from the University of Mississippi.

Rhonda Stonecipher is the new director of instruction technology, a program for which she was previously coordinator. She came to the district in 2005 and introduced new technology in the classroom, including instructional iPods for English language learners. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Wayland Baptist University and her teaching certification from Texas Tech University.

David Underwood was named assistant principal of HernandezIntermediate School, where he has been a teacher since 1997, also serving as the school’s choral director. He was named interim assistant principal in 2007. He received a bachelor’s degree from Texas State University and a master’s degree from the University of Phoenix.

Tomball ISD
A new director of math and science for Tomball ISD has been announced.Chris Scott will take on the role. An educator since 1997, he began his career as a physics and chemistry teacher in Conroe ISD, joined Houston ISD as a teacher and returned to Conroe as a high school assistant principal prior to becoming a middle school principal for that district. His bachelor of science degree was awarded from the University of Houston and his master of education degree in educational leadership from Sam Houston State University.

Ysleta ISD
Craig Lahrman has been named principal of the Cesar Chavez Academy andCesar Chavez Middle School. He began his career with Ysleta ISD in 1994 as a health and physical education teacher at Del Valle High School. After teaching at the school for 10 years, he was named assistant principal, a position he has held until this school year. He is a graduate of DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., with a bachelor’s degree in physical education; his master of science degree in kinesiology was awarded from Indiana University.