Lynette Thompson Named Principal of the Year for Oklahoma Western Oaks Middle School Principal Lynette Thompson has been named Oklahoma’s Middle Level Principal of the Year by the Oklahoma Association of Secondary School Principals (OASSP).
“We’re very proud of Lynette. She shows tremendous leadership and enthusiasm in guiding and supporting teachers and he
lping students be successful. This award is well-deserved recognition for her exceptional work,” says Dr. Jim Capps, superintendent of Putnam City Schools.
Western Oaks Middle School PTSA President Shelly Bensinger says students’ parents appreciate the job Thompson does.
“Ms. Thompson is a positive and strong leader who has a profound impact on the education and wellness of our children. She has high standards for students and goes above and beyond to form supportive relationships that help them succeed. She consistently demonstrates creativity and imagination in guiding the school, and has the complete respect of students and parents. She is highly deserving of this award,” Bensinger says.
Thompson has been principal at Western Oaks Middle School since 2003. Prior to coming to Western Oaks, she served one year as an assistant principal at Putnam City’s Central Middle School (now James L. Capps Middle School). Thompson also served as an assistant principal in Chickasha Public Schools and a special education teacher at Hillcrest Elementary School in El Reno. She also spent one year in El Reno at the Canadian County Education Center as an assistant director and teacher. She holds a masters degree in Educational Leadership from Southern Nazarene University and a bachelor’s degree in Special Education from the University of Central Oklahoma.
Each year the OASSP, along with MetLife and the National Association of Secondary School Principals, sponsors the yearly recognition of outstanding secondary and middle level principals in Oklahoma. The OASSP asks a panel of past winners of secondary and middle level principal awards to select the state’s top principals based on evidence of collaborative leadership, excellence in curriculum, instruction and assessment, and teacher, student and parent connections and involvement.
Western Oaks Middle School was recognized in 2006 in “Middle Level Best Practices: What Works at High Challenge/High Performing Schools,” a publication printing results of research project supported by a consortium of education and business leaders.
Thompson will be honored at an OASSP luncheon in June, again at a conference in August of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association and the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administration, and at the National Association of Secondary School Principals’ Institute in Washington, D. C., in October. OASSP will also sponsor Thompson’s attendance at the National Association of Secondary School Principals’ Convention in February 2009.