Laurelwood Newsroom

Charles Crosby

Evergreen School District's newest principal is a familiar face to many. On August 9 the ESD Board of Trustees officially ratified the appointment of Tonya Bailey as the new principal at Norwood Creek Elementary. Bailey is no stranger to Evergreen where she began her career as a student teacher, and served in various capacities, from teacher, to administrator over the course of 17 years. "When the opportunity to return to this incredible district was available, I jumped at the chance to return home," she says. "I am grateful to be back in a place that I love."

Bailey returns to Evergreen from having served in the Oak Grove District where she was principal of Julia Baldwin School. In a recent round of school closures in that District, Baldwin was caught in the closure net, which happened to coincide with a new vacancy at Norwood – the timing turned out to be ideal for Norwood and ESD.

"We're so thrilled to have Tonya back in Evergreen," says ESD Superintendent Kathy Gomez. "Things couldn't have worked out better in terms of timing and I know the families and staff at Norwood are going to love having her there for the upcoming school year."

As it happens, Norwood was right where it all began for Bailey as a student teacher in the mid 90s. She followed that up with a stint as a teacher at Katherine Smith, Montgomery and Silver Oak. She was also a project specialist at Dove Hill, Assistant Principal at Silver Oak, Matsumoto, and LeyVa.

With a long Evergreen history, this new move feels like coming home. "I treasured the years I spent in Evergreen, because of the incredible leadership and high-quality instruction model," Bailey notes. "I feel honored and blessed to be given the opportunity to serve in this capacity."

For her first year at Norwood she is excited to build on the school-family partnerships that have been so crucial to the school's success.. "Norwood has a strong dedicated community and one key hope is to continue to strengthen the partnership between home and school in order to develop our students' skills articulated in the "Profile of a Learner"," she says. She brings with her a distinct leadership philosophy: To identify needed change, validate successes and guide our community to fulfill our vision with inspiration. "The bottom line is for our students to make gains toward academic excellence with 21^st Century learning skills as productive, positive members of society."