Walker Names Lower School Principal

has hired a administrator to lead its Lower School, starting July 1.

Megan Howard will lead 43 faculty and staff members as the principal of Walker’s Lower School, which serves more than 300 first- to fifth-graders, the school announced Friday.

Her hiring is “a true honor, and I am excited to be a part of the Walker community,” Howard said in the school’s announcement. “I look forward to building upon the strong foundation that is already in place at Walker and leading in ways which advance the mission of the school and its vision for the future.”

A committee of faculty, administrators, parents and a trustee conducted an international search after Edwin Gordon left for New York’s Riverdale in 2011 after five years as the Lower School principal.

Elizabeth Meadows is serving as the interim principal.

Howard has been the director of teaching and learning at Buckhead’s Trinity School since 2010. She was a sixth-grade teacher at the school, which runs through the sixth grade and from which she graduated in 1993, and previously taught fifth grade at the Atlanta Youth Academy.

"Megan has a passion for educating elementary school students, and she possesses several strengths, including being a thoughtful listener, a creative problem solver and a dynamic communicator,” said Tripp Kay, the chairman of the Walker board of trustees.

Howard got her undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia and her master’s in education leadership at Columbia.

She also is a trustee of Atlanta’s Schenck School, which educates dyslexic children.

“I am excited about the strengths Megan will bring in the areas of curriculum development, leadership and having a 21st-century vision for what an outstanding elementary school should look like in terms of teaching and learning,” Walker Head of School Jack Hall said.

Andrea Dresdner, a Walker parent involved in the search process, added: “Megan is smart, articulate, and passionate about education. She is knowledgeable about the trends in technology, and she has incredible confidence.”

For all the latest East Cobb education news, sign up for East Cobb Patch's free email newsletter, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.