Meet Novi's New Principal at Deerfield Elementary

Julie Bedford is the new principal of Deerfield Elementary. She is replacing former Deerfield principal Kim Warren, who resigned after facing suspicion of being intoxicated on school grounds.

Bedford shared some background information about herself in an email to parents last week. She has a 14-year-old son, Sam, and a 10-year-old son, Seth. She, her sons and her husband, Matt, live in Hartland. 

"Both Matt and I grew up in the Milford area, so over the years we have watched Novi grow and develop into a premier community," she said in the email.

Bedford worked for 20 years in the Huron Valley School District. For the first eight years, she was an elementary teacher and taught grades 3-5.

"I have been an elementary principal, of two different buildings, for the past 12 years," she said. 

She has an undergraduate degree from Eastern Michigan University in Elementary Education with an Early Childhood Endorsement. She earned a master’s degree from Oakland University in Language Arts with a computer application endorsement. She then earned her Educational Specialist degree from Michigan State University in K-12 Administration. 

Bedford is still studying. She attends Eastern Michigan University while pursuing a doctorate in Educational Administration.

"I am also an endurance athlete. I have run over forty marathons, several ultra-marathons and am currently training for my sixth Ironman. Competing is my way of "Sharpening the Saw' and I love to develop these types of passions in children," she wrote in the email. 

Bedford closed by saying she is excited for the first day of a new school year and her new job. 

Do your children go to Deerfield Elementary? Have you met new principal Julie Bedford? Tell us in the comments.