Two Principal Candidates Go Before Hardy Panel Monday

Monday afternoon a panel of parents and teachers will interview two candidates to replace retiring Hardy Middle School Principal Dr. Mary Stefanus. She lead the school for two years.

"After much thought and deliberation, I have decided to retire again for a variety of personal reasons," she wrote in a letter posted on the school website. 

Stefanus' announcement earlier this month came as a surprise to the Georgetown community. 

"It certainly was a surprise to me," said incoming PTA president and parent of a soon-to-be eighth grader David Fredrickson in an earlier interview with Patch.

He said Stefanus had "great vision" and showed "excitement" and "respect" for the school.

Now a panel of current Hardy parents, teachers and parent representatives from Hardy's feeder elementary schools is charged with interviewing two principal candidates through the D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) community panel process. 

DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson is moving quickly to panel the two candidates she has picked for Hardy's leadership position. 

Her goal for the panel is to "select a new principal for Hardy Middle School to start by the end of July," she advised parents in a letter.

According to DCPS Spokesperson Melissa Salmanowitz, the Hardy candidates were selected through the regular annual principal selection process. They were not selected or may not have been on panels at other schools, most of which picked next year's leaders in the spring. 

After the last panel at Hardy in 2011, the one that selected Stefanus to lead the Georgetown school, Sheila Sarem, the director of recruitment and selection for DCPS at the time, said her team members "spend all year long scouring the Maryland and Virginia area and across the entire nation, looking for great principals with proven successes."

Potential candidates are identified by DCPS officials who throughout the year cull through the many resumes that come through their officer. DCPS will also pull principals from within the District or reach out to principals in other systems when working with them on best practices.