Westfield Elementary Welcomes New Principal

When students return to Westfield Elementary this year they will be greeted by a new principal with a familiar face. Current staff member Julie Lynch is stepping up to take over the role and has big plans for students and staff this year. Lynch joined the district last winter as a Reading Interventionist and applied for the Principal position when it opened up earlier this year with the retirement of Corey Parman.

Previously, Lynch worked in several other districts as principal, including Pulaski where she served as an Elementary, Middle, and high school principal and as an elementary principal in the Oshkosh School District. In addition, she served as an Assistant Superintendent at Elmbrook School District and was the Director of Educator Effectiveness and Teacher Education, Professional Development, and Licensing at DPI for two years. 

Lynch plans on forming a building leadership team to represent all forms of staff members. They would focus on staff challenges and issues, which would be discussed in order to improve the school as a whole. She also wants to resume parent and community volunteering in the school after COVID paused that effort. 

One building change that Lynch has already made was creating the building’s first staff lounge. They tore down a few walls in adjoining rooms to create a space for the staff. She said this was one of the ways they are working to create a whole community philosophy with the staff, one of the big pushes she has for this year. 

They will be reviewing student learning data and using that to determine what other changes are made in the building. They want to focus on literacy this year, with Lynch saying that until they have 100% of students reading at grade level, they still have work to do.

Lastly, Lynch shared her philosophy of education, saying, “I believe that schools exist to serve children. I believe the role of the principal is to make sure that all of the amazing people we have at our schools serving the children can do their jobs. So, my job is not to create obstacles for them to have to clear in order to do their jobs well. My job is to get any obstacles that may be in their way out of their way so that they can do and work their magic in classrooms. 

“I also really believe this Danish proverb: When you take a child by the hand you take a parent by the heart. Sometimes it is challenging when students are having bad days or we’re having bad days. I think we always have to remember that those children are somebody’s world, and my belief is that if a certain situation in a school wouldn’t be good enough for my children or my grandchildren, it wouldn’t be good enough for anybody’s children. All decisions around here will be based on what’s best for kids and we’re going to be student centered and looking at student learning results and become a school community that’s excited to have volunteers and parents in our schools volunteering on a regular basis.”