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August 8, 2008

Wilmington hires high school principal

By Carol Colaizzi

Wilmington High School has a new principal.

The board approved Kenneth Jewell to fill the post left vacant by the retirement of William C. Lyon. The vote was 7-0, with Lynn Foltz and Angel Derrick absent.

The board also set Jewell’s 2008-09 salary at $80,000. Because the district’s administrators are on a July 1 to June 30 schedule, his pay will be pro-rated, based on his starting date, which has not yet been set.

Dr. Joyce Nicksick, Wilmington’s superintendent, said it is her understanding Jewell has responsibilities to handle in the Reynolds School District before he can move on. He is that district’s junior-senior high principal, a post he’s held for the past two years.

Nicksick said she hopes to have Jewell at Wilmington before the school year starts Aug. 25. That will be a teacher in-service day and students will begin Aug. 26.

According to a spokeswoman for the district, Wilmington received about three dozen applicants for the principal’s job, and the board interviewed nine of them.

A resident of New Wilmington, Jewell received a bachelor of science degree in music education from Clarion University in 1992 and a master of education degree, with a concentration in education administration, from Westminster College in 2004.

Jewell also holds Pennsylvania principal certification and music education certification, both for kindergarten to 12th grade. He is pursuing a superintendent’s certificate.

Prior to taking the administrative post at Reynolds High, Jewell taught music in Maryland from 1993 to 1999 and in the Commodore Perry School District in Hadley, Pa., for seven years.

In May, Lyon submitted his resignation effective July 31, after eight years at Wilmington.

Lyon had been in education for 35 years, including serving as an assistant principal in Ellwood City and 23 years teaching in the New Castle Area School District.

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