ARGYLE — The Argyle school board has named a Victoria elementary administrator its new principal at Argyle Intermediate School.
Kim Barker is expected to begin work in Argyle this summer.
She’s currently the principal at C.O. Chandler Elementary School in Victoria.
“I’m very excited,” she said by phone earlier this week. “Argyle is very similar to the town that I grew up in.”
Barker, who grew up in China Spring, said she, her husband and 4-year-old son intend to settle by July in Argyle — a town in which they’re looking forward to raising their family. The move, she said, allows them to be closer to family in the North Texas area.
She is replacing Conrad Streeter, who left the district in March to lead Gene Pike Middle School in the Northwest school district. Beth Morris, a special education supervisor and sixth-grade reading and math teacher, has served as interim principal at the campus since April.
Shortly after Streeter’s resignation, the search for a new principal started, officials said.
Superintendent Telena Wright said more than 100 people applied for the position and seven candidates were interviewed before she made her recommendation to the school board for the job.
Barker’s experience stood out, Wright said.
“She has principal experience in two districts, and she has a keen interest in and expertise in technology,” Wright said.
Barker’s education career spans 14 years. In that time, she’s served as principal at Chandler Elementary the last two years and led Carson Elementary School in Decatur for two years. Other experience includes serving as an assistant principal in Decatur and teaching in the Keller school district.
She has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education with a focus in early childhood education, a master’s in curriculum and instruction, principal and superintendent certifications.
Barker said she’s made contact with Argyle Intermediate officials and has been in talks with Morris daily to put things in place for the new school year and to make sure the school has the “smoothest transition possible.”
She said she’s excited to lead a school that focuses specifically on fifth- and sixth-graders at an age when they’re growing and flourishing.
Barker said she’s interested in helping her students become leaders in technology. She said she’s becoming familiar with different devices recently purchased by the Argyle Intermediate PTA and the district’s Bring Your Own Device pilot program and would like to take those ideas and build upon them. The new principal said she’s also interested in creating social media pages for her new campus on Facebook and Twitter.
Barker said she’s seen a wide variety of instructional strategies and looks forward to bringing new ideas to her new campus and building on what’s already in place.
BRITNEY TABOR can be reached at 940-566-6876. Her e-mail address is btabor@dentonrc.com.
