Paul McDevitt, assistant principal of Oxford High School, has been appointed to the position of principal at Leonard Elementary effective March 1.
He replaces Dianna Zink, who is retiring from Oxford Community Schools on Feb. 28.
“I am very excited to become the new principal at Leonard Elementary,” said McDevitt. He added that it has been a dream of his to one day become a full-time principal.
“I’ve always aspired to be the principal at my own building, and the older I’ve gotten and the more experience I’ve gotten in the realm of education and administration, I started becoming more and more interested in the elementary level,” he said.
McDevitt said that one of the intriguing things to him about the elementary level was the opportunity to have an impact on students and the community at an early age.
According to McDevitt, the opening at Leonard was too hard to pass up because his wife and her brothers and sisters went there. “She and her family are very proud of that school,? he said. ‘The community and schools was something that I wanted to be a part of and when I saw that opening, I knew that this was time for me and I thought that it would be a perfect fit for not only them, but for me.?
Starting next school year, two of his children will attend Leonard, one in First grade and one in Kindergarten.
He described the interview process for the position as extensive, saying he had to go through numerous community and professional committees before receiving the position.
McDevitt anticipates that he will face many challenges when he begins his new role, but he said that he is ready because of the different positions he held during his time in the Oxford School District.
‘I know where the kids are going and I know what the kids need to be prepared for both academically and socially. So I have a pretty good pulse on the entire district and how it works.?
He was hired as a middle school math and science teacher in 1995 and went on to become a high school teacher in 1999. He is currently working as the assistant principal at OHS, a position he has held for the last four years. He has also served on the Oxford Curriculum Council for six years and has helped coach the varsity wrestling program.
As principal, he will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of Leonard as well as teacher and staff evaluations. He will also be the school’s International Baccalaureate Coordinator.
McDevitt acknowledged that it was a big responsibility because of how important Leonard Elementary is to the community.
‘The principal of Leonard Elementary is a big part of the community. The school is a fixture of the community and the principal is going to play a vital role in uniting the community and the school to work together,? he said.
One of the things that he cherished the most during his time at OHS was building the relationships with his students as administrator and coach.
‘You look back at the relationships you built with your students, the players on your team and the kids that you helped as an administrator are the things that I will cherish the most.?