Cara Campo heads to Hooker. Rosa Ortiz heads to FAME. Worthington Hooker School, Benjamin Jepson School, and Family Academy of Multilingual Exploration (FAME) are all on tap to be led by new principals next year, after the Board of Education approved two internal promotions and one outside hi re. New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) Supt. Madeline Negrón recommended those new-principal picks at last Monday’s school-board meeting at King/Robinson School. The Board of Education voted unanimously to approve all three. The school board’s votes mean that current King/Robinson Assistant Principal Cara Campo will serve as principal of Worthington Hooker School, replacing the retiring Margaret Mary Gethings; current Jepson Assistant Principal Karissa Stolzman will serve as Jepson’s principal, replacing the retiring Lesley Stancarone; and current New Britain schools administrator Rosa Ortiz will serve as principal of FAME, replacing the retiring Marisol Rodriguez. Campo’s and Stolzman’s appointments will become effective July 1; Ortiz’s will become effective July 8. Click here, here, and here to read more about the upcoming retirements of Gethings, Stancarone, and Rodriguez. In brief remarks about these recommendations last week, Negrón described Campo as an equity-driven leader with two decades of experience with NHPS. She said Campo has also been a teacher-mentor during her time working for the district. “One belief that really grounds me as an educator and leader is that every person in a school community brings unique gifts and every student comes to school with strengths and potential waiting to be nurtured,” Campo said during the school board meeting. “Every staff member brings talents and expertise that enrich a school community. As principal of Worthington Hooker, I look forward to fostering an environment where those gifts are recognized and valued and celebrated.” Negrón said that Stolzman has over a decade of administrative experience. She is a Hillhouse alum who has been a “deeply rooted community leader” inside and outside the school building. Stolzman said Tuesday that her son currently attends Hillhouse. “I am a proud product of New Haven Public Schools,” Stolzman said. “From Edgewood to Sheridan and a graduate of the mighty James Hillhouse High School. This district has invested in me. It shaped my foundation, ignited my passion for education.” Negrón said that Ortiz is a bilingual educational leader with more than 30 years of schools experience in Connecticut. She will come to New Haven after most recently serving as an assistant principal in New Britain. In response to some public testimony shared earlier in the meeting about Ortiz being an external candidate who has most recently worked outside of New Haven, Ortiz said she will not take her new role at FAME lightly. “I heard tonight some of our FAME staff’s passion about this principal candidacy and I can’t blame them,” she said. “They want to see a true leader help our school move in the right direction. I too hold that same passion and can only hope that within time they too will see that leader in me.” Ortiz was responding to testimony earlier in the evening by FAME staffer and SPMT Chair Judith Leach and PTO President Janet Gonzalez, who both questioned why the district did not select an internal candidate for the principal appointment. They said that current FAME Assistant Principal Regina Carini would have been great for the job. Leach said she spoke collectively for the FAME school community to publicly express gratitude for Carini who has offered “deep positive impacts” on the community. “Ms. Carini has been the steady anchor of our building for the past five years,” Leach said. “Teachers choose to stay at FAME because they feel genuinely supported by her and our students thrive because she knows and cares for every single one of them.” They described Carini, a 23-year NHPS veteran, as having unwavering leadership that has been vital to the school’s stability, bringing a calm that has helped during school emergencies, and constantly rolling up her sleeves to put data to action through home visits and by designing an incentive plan to lower chronic absenteeism from 21.2 percent to 19.2 percent. “She spearheaded a restorative justice program that has fundamentally transformed school culture and drastically reduced suspensions,” Leach concluded. Gonzalez said Carini engages with students and families with “genuine care and dedication.” She said the PTO was “profoundly” disappointed that Carini wasn’t promoted to principal and also expressed public gratitude for Carini’s years of work. In response to the testimony, Negrón said the step-by-step NHPS principal hiring process includes several interviews with HR, the superintendent, and the school’s SPMT. “I’m a big fan of Ms. Carini at FAME,” Mayor Justin Elicker said during the school board meeting. “But I also very much respect the process that the superintendent uses to evaluate who’s most appropriate to be principal and will be supporting the superintendent’s decision here.” Board of Education Secretary Ed Joyner asked how many candidates applied for the FAME principal position. Negrón said there were a total of five internal candidates and two external candidates. By the time it got to her for the final interview step, there was one internal recommendation and one external. “So by the time it got to you all the various stakeholders had input and they recommended two remaining candidates,” Joyner said. “So that means the SPMT had input. The union had input. And your staff had input.” Watch the full Board meeting below. King Robinson principal Tessa Gumbs Johnson show support for Campo promotion. The post 3 New Principals Picked; FAME Questions Outside Hire appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less