Lakewood City School District: New Administrator Moves/Hires Approved

Press release from Lakewood City School District:

July 8, 2021

Sanya Henley (left); Bridgette Firstenberger

The Board of Education recently approved a number of administrator moves that include one new face to the District and several current administrators taking on new roles.

At the June 21 meeting, Lakewood High School House Principal Bridgette Firstenberger was approved as the next LHS associate principal. She will replace Brian Siftar, who has taken a position in another district. Firstenberger has been with the district since 2015 when she was named the House 2 principal.

At the elementary level, the Board approved several moves at the July 6 meeting and a special meeting on July 7. Intervention specialist Meredith Wotjkun will move from her position at Grant Elementary into the House 2 Principal role Firstenberger will be vacating. Wotjkun was a former principal at Harding Middle School and served in many other roles within the district over her nearly 30 years with Lakewood City Schools.

Sanya Henley was named the next principal at Horace Mann Elementary School. She will replace Dr. Merritt Waters, who will begin a new position as a teaching and learning coordinator and will oversee the District’s student wellness and mental health initiatives.

Henley is currently the coordinator of learning initiatives at Euclid City Schools and principal of its Early Learning Village. Under the direction of former Euclid Superintendent, Charlie Smialek, Henley was charged with creating and bringing to fruition the Early Learning Village for the district’s preschool and kindergarten students. She has also served as a principal in the South Euclid-Lyndhurst Schools and a teacher and International Baccalaureate coordinator at Shaker Heights Schools.

Congratulations to all our administrators on their new positions!

Meredith Wotjkun (left); Merritt Waters

This press release was produced by Lakewood City School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.