IPS announces new principals at 8 schools as part of Rebuilding Stronger plan

Indianapolis Public Schools announced on Thursday new principals for eight schools as the district prepares to adopt specialized academic programs under its Rebuilding Stronger reorganization plan.

The district’s leadership announcement for 12 schools indicated that three principals and one interim principal will continue to serve as principals in their current school, while eight others move to new leadership positions.

Most of the schools listed in the district’s announcement will adopt Montessori, science, STEM, or International Baccalaureate programming in 2024-25 as part of Rebuilding Stronger.

Principals at three school buildings slated to close at the end of this school year, Raymond Brandes School 65, Francis W. Parker School 56, and Paul Miller School 114, are becoming principals at other IPS schools.

The schools with newly announced leaders, who will begin in the 2023-24 school year unless otherwise indicated, are:

• Carl Wilde School 79: Brandon Warren, current principal at Raymond Brandes School 65.
• Robert Lee Frost School 106: Dwayne Lucas, current principal.
• Eleanor Skillen School 34: Krista Douglass, current principal.
• Northwest Middle School: Nichole Morrow-Weaver, current assistant principal.
• Arlington Middle School: Iesha Billups, current interim principal.
• Henry Longfellow School 28: Keisha Odom, current resident in the IPS Principal Residency Program.
• James Garfield School 31: Amanda Faulkner, current principal at Carl Wilde School 79.
• Anna Brochhausen School 88: Carmen Sharp, current principal.
• James Russell Lowell School 51: Christine Rembert, current principal at Francis W. Parker Montessori School 56.
• Frederick Douglass School 19: Daria Parham, current principal at Paul Miller School 114.
• George W. Julian School 57: Camille Haley, current principal resident at Paul Miller School 114, joining current Principal Chante Campbell in 2023-24 for planning purposes and becoming the school’s sole principal in 2024-25.
• William Penn School 49: Phil Shults, current principal at Northwest Middle School, joining current Principal Jessica Barnes in 2023-24 for planning purposes and becoming sole principal in 2024-25.

“We know each school community is unique, as is each leader, and it is important that we map the needs of each program and school community to the strengths and experiences of each leader,” Superintendent Aleesia Johnson said in a statement.

The district is launching a search process to fill principal positions at T.C. Howe and Broad Ripple middle schools, which will reopen to students in 2024-25 as IB schools, according to the announcement.

IPS has also been working with the James Whitcomb Riley School 43 community to find a new principal there.

The district has created “district administrators at large” to help school principals prepare for the programmatic shifts taking place in 2024-25. Those administrators will perform day-to-day administrative tasks as principals plan for the academic changes.

Stacy Bottley, current principal of Longfellow Middle School, will also serve as an executive director of schools to ensure middle schools receive support based on their new academic programming, the district said.

The district previously named Adrienne Kuchik, the former principal of Garfield Elementary, as an executive director of schools.

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