Nearly complete Springfield Literacy Center gets first principal
A principal was chosen to ”crack the binding” of Springfield School District’s new Springfield Literacy Center for elementary school students when the school’s doors open in the fall.
Wendy Yohn, currently assistant principal at E.T. Richardson Middle School, will take on the role of principal at the literacy center intended for kindergarten through first grade classes.
Yohn said she is thrilled about the decision and looks forward to the opportunity to have a direct hand in student success.
“It’s a position I greatly honor and respect. I look forward to working with Springfield’s community to provide a successful environment in which our children can learn,” she said.
Yohn sees literacy as a vital foundation for education and early learning. She intends to ensure students’ academic success through individualized attention and by combining aspects of literacy such as reading and writing into other curriculum classes such as math and science.
Prior to becoming a principal, Yohn worked as a kindergarten teacher for over 20 years. She began working at the Springfield district as a teacher in 1987 and as a principal in 2005.
“I was very privileged early in my life to find joy in what I wanted to do. I knew early that I wanted to work with students. The student’s success and happiness is my success and happiness,” she said.
Springfield School District superintendent Jim Capolupo’s goal was to match the building’s potential for student achievement to the individual chosen to lead the school. Wendy, he said, was the right choice.
“The key decision, once we had a concept for the building, was to find the right leader to spearhead the project. It was clear in my mind that we needed someone who understands the elementary school child and is completely committed to student success,” Capolupo said.
Capolupo has full confidence in Yohn as an incoming leader at the new building. “She earned the job out of her relentless caring and performance as a great teacher and administrator. I have complete confidence that she will take this to heights never seen before,” he said.
The district is currently in the process of building the $20 million facility. The center is slated to open in March 2010 and is located on Woodland Avenue in Springfield, next to the middle school and a block away from Springfield High School.
About 450 students will attend the new school in the fall. Plans for the placement of remaining grades in the district’s elementary schools are in the works by the district school board.
In addition to classrooms, the literacy center will include a library at the school’s entrance, storybook garden, tree-house classroom, chalkboard walls at elementary student height levels, outdoor amphitheater and literacy-themed playground.
Technology such as wireless Internet, laptop computers, smart boards and projectors will be included in the building.
In the classroom, students will learn through hands-on activities and will receive individualized attention in order to meet the district’s goal of 100-percent proficiency in reading.
“It is our goal to have all of our students reading on developmentally appropriate but independent reading levels and for students to be fully confident readers by the end of the first grade,” Yohn said.
Wendy Yohn, currently assistant principal at E.T. Richardson Middle School, will take on the role of principal at the literacy center intended for kindergarten through first grade classes.
Yohn said she is thrilled about the decision and looks forward to the opportunity to have a direct hand in student success.
“It’s a position I greatly honor and respect. I look forward to working with Springfield’s community to provide a successful environment in which our children can learn,” she said.
Yohn sees literacy as a vital foundation for education and early learning. She intends to ensure students’ academic success through individualized attention and by combining aspects of literacy such as reading and writing into other curriculum classes such as math and science.
Prior to becoming a principal, Yohn worked as a kindergarten teacher for over 20 years. She began working at the Springfield district as a teacher in 1987 and as a principal in 2005.
“I was very privileged early in my life to find joy in what I wanted to do. I knew early that I wanted to work with students. The student’s success and happiness is my success and happiness,” she said.
Springfield School District superintendent Jim Capolupo’s goal was to match the building’s potential for student achievement to the individual chosen to lead the school. Wendy, he said, was the right choice.
“The key decision, once we had a concept for the building, was to find the right leader to spearhead the project. It was clear in my mind that we needed someone who understands the elementary school child and is completely committed to student success,” Capolupo said.
Capolupo has full confidence in Yohn as an incoming leader at the new building. “She earned the job out of her relentless caring and performance as a great teacher and administrator. I have complete confidence that she will take this to heights never seen before,” he said.
The district is currently in the process of building the $20 million facility. The center is slated to open in March 2010 and is located on Woodland Avenue in Springfield, next to the middle school and a block away from Springfield High School.
About 450 students will attend the new school in the fall. Plans for the placement of remaining grades in the district’s elementary schools are in the works by the district school board.
In addition to classrooms, the literacy center will include a library at the school’s entrance, storybook garden, tree-house classroom, chalkboard walls at elementary student height levels, outdoor amphitheater and literacy-themed playground.
Technology such as wireless Internet, laptop computers, smart boards and projectors will be included in the building.
In the classroom, students will learn through hands-on activities and will receive individualized attention in order to meet the district’s goal of 100-percent proficiency in reading.
“It is our goal to have all of our students reading on developmentally appropriate but independent reading levels and for students to be fully confident readers by the end of the first grade,” Yohn said.
