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Meet Hillsborough County's new principals

 
Tamethea Simmons
Tamethea Simmons
Published July 30, 2015

Students at these schools will be greeted by new principals for the 2015-16 year. Here's a look at who they are and what they have done so far:

Boyette Springs Elementary: Tamethea Simmons, 37

Simmons joined the district in 1999 as a teacher at Riverview Elementary. She also taught at Sessums and Collins elementaries before becoming assistant principal at the USF Patel Partnership Elementary in 2009. She worked most recently as assistant principal at Lincoln Elementary.

Freedom High : Kevin Stephenson, 38

Stephenson, formerly an assistant principal at Wharton High, has been at Wharton since he joined the district in 1999 as a teacher.

Hillsborough High: Gary Brady, 47

Brady was hired in 1995 as a long-term substitute teacher at Plant City High. He taught at Turkey Creek Middle and Plant City High. In 2009, he was named assistant principal of Strawberry Crest High. He is moving over from Robinson High, where he was an assistant principal.

Jefferson High: Robert Quinn, 44

Quinn was hired in 1997 as a teacher at Leto High. He also worked as an assistant principal at Middleton and Jefferson high schools.

Lockhart Elementary: Sharon Waite, 48

Waite is returning to Lockhart, where she began her career with the district as a teacher in 2003. She also taught at Potter Elementary, where she was an assistant principal as well. She worked most recently as an assistant principal at James Elementary.

Muller Elementary: Mary Booth

Booth was hired in 1992 as a teacher at Claywell Elementary. She later taught at Tampa Palms Elementary and at Chiles Elementary, where she worked until now as an assistant principal.

Plant City High: Susan Sullivan, 55

Sullivan joined the district in 1981 to teach at Marshall Middle. She resigned in 1985, then returned in 1998 to work as a guidance resource specialist at Plant City High. She was an administrative resource teacher, then an assistant principal and a principal at Tomlin Middle.

Shields Middle: Tia Brown, 38

Brown has been with the district since 1998. She taught at Lee Elementary, Buchanan and Tomlin middle schools, and then was assistant principal at Tomlin and Shields.

Sligh Middle: Shellie Blackwood-Green, 46

Blackwood-Green was an assistant principal at Farnell and Pierce middle schools. She joined the district in 2010.

Tomlin Middle: Traci Durrance, 46

Durrance joined the district in 1993 to teach at Tomlin Middle. She was a resource teacher, then an assistant principal at Plant City High.