McGilvra gets new principal in September

The Seattle School District yesterday named Mary Lane, who has been serving this school year as a principal with the Shanghai American School (SAS) in China, as the new McGilvra Elementary School principal for the 2010-11 school year. Lane's most recent experience in Washington was as the principal of Hawkins Middle School in Belfair (located on Hood Canal in Kitsap County). According to the School District, her experience also includes a stint as an assistant superintendent in a Dominican Republic school district. She began her career as an elementary classroom teacher, later moving into administration.

Lane has been in the role of SAS's elementary school principal at the Puxi campus, which provides a pre-kindergarden though fifth-grade education to 650 students from approximately 40 countries. The are more than 100 teachers and staff connected with the school, whose mission is to provide an education on a par with what would be offered in the best American private and public schools. Puxi is an area at the core of urban Shanghai.

Lane's academic credentials include a Master's Degree in education from the University of Tennessee and a B.S. in elementary education from Tennessee Temple University. Why Lane chose to go to China and why she is now returning to the States are questions unanswered in the District's press release. We hope to have the opportunity of asking her about all of that and more. She will be attending the PTA meeting at McGilvra this evening at 6:30 pm.

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Lane's selection occurred after a round of interviews with a team composed of McGilvra parents, teachers, and staff. She was named one of the finalists for the job by the school's interview team, with Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson and Susan Enfield, the District's Chief Academic Officer, making the final choice.

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McGilvra's Interim Principal Birgit McShane will continue in her role through the end of the current school year, which has certainly proven to be an interesting one administratively.