Co-principals Shy-Quon Ely II and Brooke Beavers recently took over Elder W. Diggs School 42, a struggling campus that Indianapolis Public Schools restarted as an innovation school. Beavers and Ely, who previously co-led a local charter school, will focus on improving test scores and preventing state intervention.
The duo has hired nearly all new teachers and staff, extended the school day, and introduced new disciplinary procedures. They have also worked to establish closer ties with families and community members.
Principal Sharee Blunt of Northglenn High School is spreading goodwill in more ways than one. Every year, she hand-delivers birthday cards to 2,000 students and the staff at her Denver school. Last winter, she created an initiative that provided three books to each kindergartner at a local elementary school, and distributed gifts and food to 120 students. Last fall, her school raised money for cancer patients.
In November, Mervin Daugherty will take the helm at Chesterfield County Public Schools in Virginia. Daugherty has served as superintendent of Red Clay Consolidated School District, and as assistant superintendent for academics of H.B. du Pont Middle School, both in Delaware. Daugherty has developed after-school and student leadership programs, and partnered with Latin-American community groups to better support students.
Tim Sweeney raised the graduation rate from 70 percent in 2009 to 90 percent in 2016 since becoming superintendent of Coquille School District in 2010. Half of the Oregon district’s 2016 graduating seniors had taken at least one college class. Butte Falls High School’s state rating rose from “needs improvement” to “outstanding.”
Sweeney was named 2019 Oregon Superintendent of the Year by the Oregon Association of School Executives and the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators.
