The Human Resources Department was very busy this summer onboarding new employees. Between May and August, over 50 new employees were hired as follows:
30 Classroom Teachers
3 School Social Workers
2 School Counselors
1 Director of Athletics and Activities
1 School Secretary
1 Benefits Coordinator
14 Paraprofessionals
Staff members were welcomed back, and new staff were introduced during a professional learning morning.
You can watch this year's new hire video here and learn something interesting about many new staff members.
We also had some internal changes. Jennifer Knipper, Principal of Northwood Elementary since August 2019, has moved into the role of Supervisor of Continuous Improvement, and Melanie Davis, School Social Worker for Royal Oak Middle School, was promoted to the role of Supervisor of Secondary Special Education. We announced the hiring of Molly Bascom-Keller as the new Principal of Northwood.
Molly taught at Berkley Schools at Burton Elementary for nine years, along with a principal internship and interim principal experience. "I love education and am thrilled to join Royal Oak Schools and the Northwood Elementary family," she said.
She has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Western Michigan University in Finance, a Masters of Elementary Education degree from Oakland University, focusing on both Mathematics and Language Arts and an Education Specialist degree from Wayne State University in Supervision and Administration. "I'm most excited to get to know and build relationships with our students, their families, and the Northwood staff. This is a tremendous community; everyone has been so welcoming and kind. It already feels like home!"
Molly is married with four children, two of whom live in Royal Oak. She has a dog named Lily. A fun fact about Molly is that she converted a Transit van into a camper over the summer. She says she loves working on things and figuring out puzzles and problems.