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LEISD hires LMS, LEHS principals
By Emily Hill, ehill@starlocalnews.com
The Little Elm ISD Board of School Trustees recently approved Superintendent Lynne Leuthard's recommendations to hire Ray Winkler as the principal of Lakeside Middle School and Shon Joseph as the principal of Little Elm High School.
Winkler
Ray Winkler, who replaces Dr. Anna King who accepted the position of LEISD Coordinator of College and Career Readiness, will officially start with the district on July 1, but he hopes to visit the school for a few days before that.
Winkler will finish up his fourth year as the associate principal of Lovejoy High School, where he is also the district's coordinator of Fine Arts programs for kindergarten through 12th grade. According to a release from LEISD, the LHS campus moved from Recognized status to Exemplary, and commended science scores jumped from 46th to 26th in the state.
Winkler said he has known several friends and other administrators that have taught and worked at LEISD.
"I've heard really good things about the teachers, especially at Lakeside Middle School," Winkler said. "They're really engaged to do great levels of thinking. I'm looking forward to work with them and the parents for an experience that is second to none."
Winkler was named one of the "Most Influential People in the Community" in 2004 by The Dallas Morning News while he was an orchestra director in Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD elementary schools. While working for the district, he ran a large fine arts program.
"That really blindsided me," Winkler said. "[It] really wasn't about me, but the program and the teachers. It had a huge impact on the school and the community and really changed the culture of the school."
Winkler was inspired to pursue a career in administration because of a fellow colleague who told him running a school is the same thing as leading the fine arts program. Having now worked in both middle and high schools as an administrator, Winkler doesn't believe there is a big difference between them.
"It's about supporting teachers and getting to know the kids, and getting parents involved," Winkler said. "Middle school is in a way a bit easier because they don't have distractions of having to work or prepare for college. You have a very captive audience during those years."
Winkler's focus will be on collaborative planning, intervention and data for the school. As for possible new programs for the school, Winkler wants to first assess the needs of the district and LMS through a needs assessment with the elementary and middle school levels. The most important thing, Winkler said, is to get input from staff and connect the two pieces between the schools so students get an experience that is second to none.
"Really, that is my goal," Winkler said.
With a background in music, Winkler believes there isn't much of a difference between programs at school.
"I think the idea behind music classes is the same as coaching, which is the same as teaching classes," Winkler explained. "I want to lead the thinking behind teaching until every kid has learned. [We can] keep working with kids like coaches until they understand at a very deep level."
Winkler has previously served as an assistant principal at Frankford Middle School in Plano ISD and assistant principal at Vivian Field Middle School in Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Music and a Master's in Education Administration from The University of North Texas. He is finishing up his doctorate at UNT in Denton.
Winkler is engaged to Mary, who is also an educator. He has one son, Leo, who is almost 2 years old and a soon-to-be stepson, Brandon, who is 4.
Joseph
Shon Joseph will begin his work as LEHS principal on a part-time basis before the end of the current school year.
"I can't wait to get there with the Lobos," Joseph said, "and I'll be there at graduation."
He is currently completing his second year as principal at John Tyler High School. He joined the school in April of 2010 as the associate principal before being promoted to principal just eight weeks later. After just one year there, he was awarded the 2011-12 Region VII High School Principal of the Year award.
Joseph was also nominated twice for the TASSP Region VII High School Principal of the Year while he was principal at Palestine High School. According to a release from LEISD, Joseph led the campus to TEA "Recognized" rating for two consecutive years, which was a first in the school's history, helped the campus meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for the first time in three years and successfully exit AYP intervention stage, helping the school gain more than $750,000 in grant funds.
"I've been blessed," Joseph said. "I've had some success. I'm very appreciative of the success each place I've gone."
While he served as assistant principal at Wylie High School, he updated the attendance procedures and increased ADA from 94 percent to 95.56 percent. He also won the Region X Assistant Principal of the Year Award in 2009.
Joseph said as of yet, he does not have a set goal for LEHS, but when he does get to a school, he likes to first assess the key factors affecting the campus.
"I like to address what is not working," Joseph said. "I've looked at some of the things that need a little attention. I'd like to see kids get in class and be engaged in class."
Joseph said his focus right now is on course offerings.
"I really want to make sure we build on our AP program and increase the dual credit program," Joseph said.
He'd like to see a major focus on someday seeing seniors graduate with 40 college credits. Partnerships can bring early college classes to the school, helping students gain more access to those opportunities. Right now, Joseph said, some seniors graduate with as many as 24 credits, but there is no special programming in place for that.
"I want to expand those offerings and the access," Joseph said. "What research indicates, increasing dual credit offerings increases the graduation rate."
He continued saying the students see more of a reason of going to school when seeing the tie into having credits that can be used later for college.
He also hopes to increase the pride on the campus by instilling more traditions and honoring those already in place. He plans to work with students on those options.
Joseph enjoys building up the relationships with students and the parents and seeing them move on, especially at graduation. He specifically mentioned students that may have had a hard time getting to that point where they can graduate.
"Seeing them cross the stage is very rewarding," Joseph said.
Joseph decided to become an administrator after spending several years as a coach. He said he had the opportunity to work with an administrator that felt it was very important that Joseph experience the full aspect of having a career in school.
Joseph said one thing he has done at every school he has been with is host grade-level meetings in a town hall setting to get to know families and students and give them an opportunity to get to know him.
"They get to know me and I'll get to know them," Joseph said.
The meetings will be held this summer, more than likely in July.
"I'm really looking forward to working with a district that has a rich tradition academically," Joseph said. "I'm really looking forward to working with a school with that kind of reputation first and foremost, and hopefully adding to that in the upcoming years."
According to the release, Joseph graduated after his junior year from Peabody Magnet High School in Alexandria, La. He attended Louisiana College in Pineville, La., on a full scholarship. After one semester there, he transferred to McNeese State University in Lake Charles, La., where he majored in Speech Communication and graduated with a Bachelor's of Arts degree.
Joseph is married to Juanita, who is also an educator, and together they have three sons, the oldest who is a junior in high school. He and his family will be moving to Allen where his wife's family lives. Joseph plans to drive in to Little Elm each day.
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