Welcome Steve Springer and Stephanie Harris!

7/31/2018

It is with great enthusiasm that I share with you the new 2018-19 Carlthorp School Administrative Team.

Two new administrators, Steve Springer (Associate Head of School & Principal) and Stephanie Harris (Assistant Principal), will be joining me, Marcelline Cattani (our current Director of Curriculum and Instruction), and Pat Yahnke (our current Assistant Principal, Emeritus) for the 2018-19 school year.

Below are brief introductions to Steve and Stephanie.

Steve Springer, Associate Head of School & Principal

Mr. Springer spent four years at Carlthorp School from 2010-2014 as both a 5th Grade teacher and “Support Teacher,” a position created specifically for him where he provided support to teachers in the classroom with instruction and curricular planning, and also helped manage non-curricular programs including after-school clubs, special event days, student assemblies, and field trips. Tapping into Steve’s tremendous energy and creativity, my predecessor, Dee Menzies, and I utilized Steve throughout his Carlthorp School tenure in all aspects of school life. He met with students and/or their parents, worked individually with students who had special needs (either learning challenges or behavioral issues), interviewed prospective parents for admissions, recruited new teachers, assisted in secondary school placements, led professional development training for our faculty, and helped contemporize both the school’s Curriculum Guide and its Faculty Handbook.

Today, many of Carlthorp School’s greatest initiatives – service learning, technology integration, enhanced arts programs, meaningful cultural days, increased parent involvement, more books in the classroom, promoting student empowerment … and even the Take 5 logo … all have traces of Steve’s imagination, effort, and talent.

Beyond Carlthorp School, Steve has 23 years of experience teaching in Kindergarten – 6^th Grade classrooms. Fluent in Spanish, a graduate of the Peace Corps, and a dedicated educator who has taught in a variety of communities throughout Los Angeles, Steve brings a commitment to social justice and educational excellence, and lives the Code of Conduct. While his teaching and book series (The Organized Teacher, McGraw Hill, 2012) earn him high praise and national accolades, it’s his humble demeanor and focus on doing what’s best for students that makes him truly special. Welcome home, Steve!

Mrs. Stephanie Harris, Assistant Principal

We are equally excited to introduce Mrs. Stephanie Harris. I introduced her as my mentor (I served as her Assistant Principal in LAUSD), a distinguished elementary school principal who recently retired after 33 years of service, and an inspiring leader who helped to improve three academically low-performing elementary schools. Specifically, she was the Principal at Short Avenue Elementary when it became the highest-scoring Title 1, Reading First school not only in the City of Los Angeles … but also in the entire State of California! Upon her retirement twelve years later, she had led two subsequent elementary schools – 54^th Street and Melrose Avenue – to be both recognized as California Distinguished Schools and, at Melrose Avenue, to be awarded the “Magnet School of Excellence” and a designated Apple Distinguished School for technology. Very few elementary school principals retire with such a track record.

Beneath Stephanie’s warm, kind-hearted demeanor is a fierce determination to achieve educational excellence. What Stephanie brings to the Carlthorp School community is truly a unique and diverse perspective – decades of teaching and leadership across multiple schools serving a wide population of students and families. But, once again, the recurring theme that unites us is a commitment to excellence by broadening our students’ horizons and exposing them to diverse ideas, thoughts, and experiences.

Together with Marcelline Cattani, Pat Yahnke and the entire Carlthorp School community I welcome both Mr. Springer and Mrs. Harris with open arms. I am grateful to both of them for their commitment to Carlthorp School and I am excited to have them here!

Respectfully,

Tim Kusserow

Head of School

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