Board recommends Miller for principal

FAYETTEVILLE — The School Board this week will be asked to approve Michelle Miller as Fayetteville High School’s next principal, according to a news release.

Miller is an assistant principal at the high school. If the board approves, she would become principal starting this summer, replacing Jay Dostal, who announced in January his intention to take the principal’s job at Westside High School in Omaha, Neb. Dostal has been Fayetteville High’s principal since July 2018.

The School Board will vote on the recommendation from Superintendent John L Colbert at its meeting Thursday, according to a news release from the School District. There were 14 applicants for the job, said Alan Wilbourn, the School District’s public information officer.

“It was no surprise that there was a great deal of interest in this opening,” Colbert said. “Dr. Miller emerged from this strong field of candidates, and I am confident that her unique skills and experience, plus her knowledge of and commitment to FHS, will make her a strong leader for our largest campus.”

Miller earned her bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from Texas A&M University, her master’s degree in secondary education from East Central University, her educational specialist’s degree from Arkansas State University and her doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Arkansas. Miller was a National Board certified teacher in adolescent and young adult mathematics from 2011 to 2021, according to the release.

She has served on Fayetteville High’s faculty since 2008 as an Advanced Placement calculus teacher, small learning community lead teacher, dean of students, vice principal and assistant principal. She previously taught in the Fort Smith School District and at schools in Oklahoma and Texas, according to the release.

Fayetteville High School has an enrollment of about 2,500 students.

Miller