Miles appoints new principals in HISD

Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles has appointed several more principals to vacant positions, including at Sharpstown and Worthing high schools, whose previous principals were removed from their posts earlier this month along with the principal at Yates High School.

Thomas J. Cotter, who previously served as principal at Fondren Middle School, will take the helm at Sharpstown ahead of the school year, district officials confirmed Wednesday. He replaces Dan De León, who had led Sharpstown since 2016.

At Worthing, Alexandria Gregoire will replace Everett Hare Sr., who had served as principal since 2020. She comes to Worthing from Holland Middle School, where she served as dean of instruction.

The district already announced Tuesday that Stephanie Square, a Yates alumna and former Yates teacher, would lead the Third Ward school in place of Tiffany Guillory.

Miles has declined to specify why the former principals were removed at each school, but alluded to poor academic performance in a letter to Yates parents and staff.

“Once it was clear that we needed to make a change, it was important to act quickly,” he wrote. “Our students — especially our high school students — cannot wait.”

Cotter, the new Sharpstown principal, served as principal at Wesley Elementary School before taking charge at Fondren last year, and his career includes stints as an instructional specialist and assistant principal at several other HISD schools, according to his district biography. He began his work in education as a reading and social studies teacher at the Gregory-Lincoln Education Center after receiving his bachelors degree at Texas Southern University and his masters at the University of Houston.

Gregoire attended Carleton College and received her masters degree in education at Lamar University. She has worked as a dean of instruction in HISD since 2019, according to her LinkedIn profile.

The new HISD administration has also appointed principals at several other schools with openings, officials confirmed Wednesday.

Gloria Robayo-Freitag, who most recently served as dean of instruction at Project Chrysalis Middle School, will take over at Reagan K-8 Educational Center, while Wendy Pineda, previously an assistant principal at Seguin Elementary School, was named principal of Southmayd Elementary School.

Sanchez Elementary School will now be led by Claudia Montoya, who leaves Pugh Elementary School after one year as principal. A district spokesman said that Montoya did not reapply for her former position after Miles announced that Pugh would be one of the 28 schools targeted for reform as part of his New Education System.

Principals have also been appointed at East Early College High School, where new Yates Principal Stephanie Square most recently served, and Navarro Middle School, but district officials did not publicly release their names Wednesday.