East Lansing Public Schools has selected a new principal to lead the district’s high school. Ashley Schwarzbek has been serving as the school’s interim principal since March.
Late last week, the East Lansing Board of Education unanimously approved hiring Schwarzbek as the high school’s new principal.
This comes several months after the resignation of former principal Shannon Mayfield. Administrators had discovered he had falsified some of his credentials and educational background.
Schwarzbek says she’s thrilled to be in the position as principal. She plans to work to create a culture of safety at the school.
“We have a lot of goals. We have a lot of things that we want to accomplish: new procedures and structures that we want to put in place here at the building," she said. "But also, supports that we want to make sure that our students have available to them as well."
Earlier this year, East Lansing High School closed several different times due to threats of violence. Schwarzbek says she wants to ramp up community partnerships at the school to better support students’ wellbeing.
"To provide additional mentoring to students and to really meet them where they are," she said. "And beef up some of our social emotional support for students as well as to really make sure that everyone's getting what they need to be the most successful."
Schwarzbek was one of ten candidates who applied for the role, five of whom were interviewed by the hiring committee.
She started her career as a classroom teacher and joined the district in 2019 as the high school’s associate principal.
