New principals named at nine Manatee County schools as admin changes announced
New principals and administrative positions have been announced for the 2022-23 school year in the Manatee County School District as longtime educators and department heads plan to retire this summer.
The district said the School Board of Manatee County will vote to finalize all administrative changes in a press release.
“I am excited to announce the following administrative changes being made in our schools and district as we prepare for the next school year,” Superintendent Cynthia Saunders said. “Even though it is difficult seeing seasoned and successful leaders leave; it is gratifying to know we have talented professionals available to follow in their footsteps.”
The proposed candidates will step into their new roles starting on July 1.
In Bradenton, nine schools will have new principals, including six elementary, two middle and one high school.
“We are truly blessed to have a talented team of professional educators serving in leadership roles in our schools and school support departments,” said Superintendent Cynthia Saunders. “While it is sad to say goodbye to dedicated educators like Rosa Faison, David Marshall, and Mike Rio — who have devoted their careers to the children of Manatee County — we are excited about the opportunities that lay before us as we move forward together.”
Here’s background information on the employees who will be filling the open positions and those retiring, provided by the Manatee County School District in a press release:
Manatee school district administrative changes
Principal of King Middle School: Michael Mullen. For the last decade, Mullen served as an assistant principal in Manatee District high schools, spending time at Lakewood Ranch High and most recently Bayshore High. He was named Administrator of the Year at Lakewood Ranch in 2013 and 2015, and he succeeds Kristin Kreiling as principal at King. He served as a teacher and the head varsity baseball coach at Southeast High from 1998 to 2000, and as a teacher and the head varsity baseball coach at Lakewood Ranch High from 2007 to 2012. He has a Master of Education degree in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University.
Principal of Lee Middle School: Shelly DeCesare. DeCesare has served as an assistant principal at Southeast High since 2016. She also served as an administrative intern/administrative dean of students at Southeast from 2013-16 and an English teacher and testing coordinator at Southeast from 2010-13. She will replace Ginger Collins at Lee Middle, who will be the new principal at Southeast. Current Southeast Principal Rosa Faison is retiring. Ms. DeCesare started her educational career as an English teacher at Manatee High from 2004-07, and she has a Master of Education degree in Educational Leadership from the University of South Florida.
Principal of McNeal Elementary School: Sheila Waid. Waid has served as an assistant principal at Rogers Garden-Bullock Elementary since 2021, and as an assistant principal at Williams Elementary from July 2018 to June 2021. From 2015-18, Waid was a student support specialist at McNeal. She will replace Cheryl McGrew as principal at McNeal, who is retiring. Waid began her career in education as a teacher at Logan High School in Ohio, before coming to Manatee County where she served as a third-grade teacher at Tara Elementary from 2003-15. She has a Master of Education degree in Educational Administration and Supervision from National Louis University.
Principal of Moody Elementary School: Natalie Jadid. Jadid has served as an instructional specialist and assistant principal at Manatee Elementary since 2020. She also served as the dean of students at Imagine Schools at Palmer Ranch in 2019, and as principal at Wildwood Elementary in East Baton Rouge, Louisiana, from 2014-18. Jadid replaces James Horner, who is retiring. She spent 19 years as a classroom teacher and was named a Distinguished Educator by the Louisiana Department of Education in 2005. She has a Master of Education degree in Educational Leadership from Louisiana State University and a Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of New Orleans.
Principal of Rogers Garden-Bullock Elementary School: Michael Escorcia. Escorcia will serve as interim principal at Rogers Garden-Bullock after the retirement of current principal Pat Stream. Escorcia has served as an assistant principal at Daughtrey Elementary since 2017. Originally from Nicaragua, Escorcia is bilingual, speaking Spanish and English, and he served as migrant coordinator in 2017. Prior to that, he was dean of discipline at Lakewood Ranch High from 2014-17. He started with the district as an eighth-grade math teacher at Sugg Middle from 2004-10, and taught math at Buffalo Creek Middle from 2010-14. He has a Master of Education degree in Educational Leadership from USF Sarasota-Manatee.
Principal of Samoset Elementary School: Samara Hemingway Primous. Hemingway Primous has served as an assistant principal at Bayshore Elementary since 2019 and as an assistant principal at Manatee Elementary from 2017-19. She replaces Maribeth Mason, who is becoming the district’s Associate Director of Exceptional Student Education. Hemingway Primous started her education career as a teacher in Atlanta, and came to Manatee County as an Intermediate Resource Teacher at Palmetto Elementary from 2009-14. She served as an assistant principal in Manatee County from 2014-17, and she has a Master of Education degree in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University.
Principal of Williams Elementary School: Andrea Keezer. Keezer has served as an assistant principal at Harvey Elementary since 2020 and as an assistant principal at Rogers Garden-Bullock Elementary from 2017-20. She replaces Connie Dixon, who is becoming principal at Witt Elementary. Keezer started her education career as a fourth-grade teacher at Dunbar Magnet Elementary in Hillsborough County in 2003, and came to Manatee County as an Instructional Specialist in the district office in 2017. She also served as a Peer Evaluator and an Instructional Mentor in the district office in Hillsborough County from 2015-17. Keezer has a Master of Education degree in Teaching from the University of South Florida.
Principal of Southeast High School: Ginger Collins. Collins, who served as an assistant principal at Southeast from 2018-20, is currently the principal at Lee Middle School. She has been principal at Lee since July 2020. Collins replaces Rosa Faison, retiring following 38 years in education in Florida, including the last seven years as principal at Southeast. Collins has served in the district for 23 years, including as an assistant principal at Bayshore High School from 2010-18. She started her career in Manatee County as a teacher at Haile Middle and served at Palmetto High School from 2004-10.
Principal of Witt Elementary School: Connie Dixon. Dixon is currently the principal at Williams Elementary, where she has served since 2014. She is replacing David Marshall, retiring after 40 years of service in the district. Dixon started her career in Manatee County as a teacher at Moody Elementary and she taught at Braden River Elementary from 2002-09. She then served as an assistant principal at Willis Elementary from 2009-14.
Associate Director of Exceptional Student Education (ESE): Maribeth Mason. Mason has served as principal of Samoset Elementary School since the 2015-2016 school year. She also serves as an adjunct professor at State College of Florida in the Teacher Preparation Program. She began her education career in Pinellas County schools 29 years ago as a middle school English and reading teacher, and she became one of the first five reading coaches in Pinellas secondary schools in 2002. In 2005, Mason moved to the Office of Secondary Reading in 2006 as a high school staff developer working to implement reading programs in high schools. She came to Manatee County nine years ago, where she served as the principal of Orange Ridge-Bullock Elementary. Mason holds a Specialist Degree in Curriculum and Assessment, Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership, and a B.S. in Secondary English.
Executive Director of Curriculum and Professional Learning: Dr. Laurie Breslin. Breslin serves as the district’s director of Secondary Curriculum. She replaces interim executive director of Curriculum and Professional Learning Dr. Robin Thompson. Breslin has 16 years of experience in the School District of Manatee County as a teacher and assistant principal, and she served as principal of Sarasota Middle School from 2018-21. She has a doctorate in teaching and learning from Argosy University in 2015.
Executive Director of Elementary Education: Dr. Stephanie Callaway. Callaway serves as the district’s director of Elementary Curriculum. She replaces Mike Rio, retiring after 38 years of service with the district. Callaway served 22 years in Marion County Schools as a teacher, dean, assistant principal and principal before coming to Manatee County in 2021. She has a doctorate in philosophy of education from Walden University.
Executive Director of Pupil Personnel Services: Dr. Robin Thompson. Thompson serves as the district’s executive director of Curriculum and Professional Learning. She is replacing Genelle Yost, retiring after 43 years in public education in Florida. Thompson began her career with the School District of Manatee County as a World Cultures History teacher at Bradenton Middle School in 1982. She worked as a reading coach and teacher and curriculum coordinator at Manatee High from 2005-12. She then became executive director of Teaching and Learning for the district in 2012 and served as director of Early Learning from 2013-21. Thompson has a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the University of South Florida.
Chief of Human Resources: Wendy Mungillo. Mungillo has been serving as the district’s director of Human Resources since July 2016. She replaces Sarah Brown as Chief of Human Resources. Mungillo has 29 years of service in the School District of Manatee County as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, and district administrator. She spent seven years as an assistant principal in Manatee County and served as a Title I school principal. She holds the professional human resources certification and is the current Workforce Readiness Committee Chair for the Sarasota-Manatee Human Resources Association. She has her master’s in educational leadership from Nova Southeastern University.
This story was originally published April 18, 2022 at 5:50 AM.
