Kenwood Elementary Has a New Principal, Dr. Ken Schofield

Dr. Ken Schofield, an Oakland County native who most-recently has worked as principal of an Arizona elementary school, has been chosen to lead Kenwood Elementary School in Clawson as its permanent principal.

The Clawson Board of Education unanimously approved the selection of Schofield at its board meeting on Monday. Schofield replaces Interim Principal Lloyd Lewis, who had served in that role for the past two school years.

Schofield, who recently resigned as principal Chaparral Elementary School in Phoenix after eight years in the position, told the board from Arizona through a video-conferencing chat that he is looking forward to a long career at Kenwood. "When I applied for the position with Clawson, as soon as I applied, I thought to myself, this is the job I want," he said.

Superintendent Monique Beels spoke of the thorough process to determine Schofield as the best candidate from an apparently-large field. From a stack of over 200 applications, Beels said, video interviews were held with eight candidates who received welcome from various stakeholders in the district, including Lewis himself.

"I was just so absolutely impressed with the process that they had to go through," said Trustee Linda Grossmann.

Among the highlights of Schofield's interview were his plans to improve the school, according to Beels.

"He focused on the staff, how they would be interpreting the data, and how he could help them with that process. He put his own spin on this assignment and made it personal," she said. "He talked about his son and the challenges of teaching and reaching all students – from where they are. He was humble."

Schofield is the father of a 12-year old son and he currently brings exchange students into his home for a year of high school.

He graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Science in family community services - children's services, before moving on to receive an Educational Doctorate in educational leadership from Arizona State University and an MA in elementary education from Northern Arizona University.

"I asked him, 'Why Clawson?'" Beels said. "He loves the community and welcome he felt when visiting Clawson. When he was applying to districts all over Michigan, he stated that Clawson was the place that he wanted to be."

Schofield is scheduled to begin work this summer. His contract runs through the 2015-16 school year and pays $103,736 annual salary, according to the district.

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