New Faces, New Roles In District Admin Ranks

The Board of Education recently approved a number of administrator moves that include one new face to the District with incoming Horace Mann Elementary Principal Sanya Henley and several current administrators taking on new roles.

At the June 21 meeting, Lakewood High School House Principal Bridgette Firstenberger was approved as the next LHS associate principal. She will replace Brian Siftar, who has taken a position in another district. Firstenberger has been with the district since 2015 when she was named the House 2 principal.

At the elementary level, Sanya Henley was named the next principal at Horace Mann Elementary School at a special meeting on July 7. She will replace Dr. Merritt Waters, who will begin a new position as a teaching and learning coordinator and will oversee the District’s student wellness and mental health initiatives. 

Henley was the coordinator of learning initiatives at Euclid City Schools and principal of its Early Learning Village. Under the direction of former Euclid Superintendent, Charlie Smialek, Henley was charged with creating and bringing to fruition the Early Learning Village for the district’s preschool and kindergarten students. She has also served as a principal in the South Euclid-Lyndhurst Schools and a teacher and International Baccalaureate coordinator at Shaker Heights Schools.

The Board also approved Grant Elementary intervention specialist Meredith Wojtkun as the replacement for Firstenberger for the House 2 position at its July 19 meeting. Wojtkun was a former principal at Harding Middle School and served in many other roles within the district over her nearly 30 years with Lakewood City Schools.