INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The newly hired Schools Superintendent has picked three new principals to head a middle school and two magnet elementary schools, a move that was unanimously supported and approved Tuesday night.
“These three individuals are proven instructional leaders who were exemplary classroom teachers themselves,” incoming Schools Superintendent Dr. Mark Rendell said. “They know how to support and improve instruction in the classroom. We are excited to add these three new principals to the ranks of our leadership staff.”
Beth Hofer will be the new principal at Oslo Middle School.
“It’s an honor to serve Oslo,” Hofer said.
She most recently has been the District’s coordinator of professional development. Hofer also has experience as an administrator and teacher at Vero Beach High School, Sebastian River High School, Storm Grove Middle School, and Sebastian River Middle School. As a classroom teacher, she held National Board Certification and various other certifications to include College Board Pre-AP, International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme, and Clinical Educator Training.
Osceola Magnet Elementary School’s new principal will be Scott Simpson, who is most recently the assistant principal at Liberty Magnet Elementary.
“I’m just incredibly excited” to lead the school, Simpson told the School Board Tuesday night.
He has also worked at Treasure Coast Elementary, Dodgertown Elementary, and Sebastian River Middle School.
In 2009, Simpson was chosen as Indian River County’s Teacher of the Year.
He has also taught in Miami and in Addison, Ill., and has been an adjunct instructor for Indian River State College.
Casandra Flores will serve as the new principal at Rosewood Magnet Elementary.
“I am honored and grateful,” Flores said, adding that she is happy to join the Indian River County School District, where her husband works at Storm Grove Middle and her daughter attends school.
Most recently, Flores has been an assistant principal at a K-8 school in St. Lucie County, a teacher at an elementary school in St. Lucie, and an elementary teacher in Orange County. She, too, was named her county’s Teacher of the Year in 2009.
Flores has also presented at National Conferences on Science Education in San Diego, New Orleans, and Philadelphia.
The new principals, along with Dr. Rendell, will assume their new roles on July 1.
