Assistant Principals Announcement

August 10, 2017


Dear KLSD Families,


I hope all our families are enjoying a wonderful summer.

While I don’t typically interrupt the summer with an email, I’m writing today to share good news about our administrative team here in the District. Tomorrow, our Board of Education will hold an additional meeting at which I anticipate they will appoint two new assistant principals, one at Katonah Elementary School and one at John Jay Middle School. These new members of our staff will fill the positions vacated by the recently announced retirements of Mr. Terry Costin and Ms. Lisa Kor.

At Katonah Elementary School, we look forward to welcoming Mr. Kweon Stambaugh. Last year, Mr. Stambaugh was the interim principal at Mt. Kisco Elementary School in Bedford. For seven years prior, he was the assistant principal in the same building. Before working in Bedford, he was both an assistant principal and teacher at elementary schools in NYC, Stamford, CT, and Marietta, GA. Mr. Stambaugh received his Bachelor of Science in elementary education and history from St. Thomas Aquinas College and his Master of Arts in school administration and supervision from Bank Street College of Education.

At John Jay Middle School, we look forward to welcoming Ms. Shantel Brooks. Ms. Brooks is currently an assistant principal at the California Avenue School in Uniondale (Long Island). Prior to that, she was a co- founder and director of instruction and technology at the Madiba Prep Middle School in Brooklyn. Previously, she served as a math enrichment teacher and instructional coach in the White Plains schools. Ms. Brooks earned her Bachelor of Science from SUNY New Paltz, her Master of Science in teaching literacy from Mercy College, her M. Ed. in educational leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University, and she is currently enrolled in the doctoral program at St. John’s University.

My thanks to the teachers, administrators, members of our support staff, and parents who joined us this summer on interview committees and helped us select these two outstanding candidates. Both came through a rigorous selection process that involved multiple rounds of interviews, lesson observations, writing samples, and thorough reference checking. We are confident that both Mr. Stambaugh and Ms. Brooks will make significant contributions to our school community. We look forward to creating opportunities this fall for you to meet them both.

Additionally, earlier this summer, our Board appointed Mr. Harry LeFevre as our Interim Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources. Mr. LeFevre has worked in the same capacity previously in our District. He is an experienced district-level administrator who brings a wealth of knowledge to his role. We are glad to have him back for the 2017-18 school year.

I hope everyone continues to enjoy these summer days. I look forward to writing to you again in just a few weeks to welcome our students back for the new school year.

Sincerely,

Andrew Selesnick Superintendent of Schools