New Mixon Elementary principal’s past ‘led’ to administration

By Ebony Horton

Published: July 14, 2008

OZARK - Donna Stark believes every educational path she’s taken in the last 23 years has led up to her new position as principal of one of Ozark’s two elementary schools.

Ozark City Schools Superintendent Mike Lenhart said Stark was selected as Mixon Elementary School’s principal over about 15 candidates who also applied for the position after the retirement of principal Roslyn Mikoda.

“The interview process was one where there was a standard set of questions and it involved all aspects of running a school, but most deeply into the principal as a teaching and learning leader instead of a building manager …,” Lenhart said.

“(Stark is) knowledgeable about our system, she’s already a curriculum leader in the district, and she’s an effective collegiate leader.”

Stark, who worked as the system’s director of child nutrition and student services, said she always wanted to be an effective principal in a school system with a vision.

She said goals for Mixon include continuing to work on academics and ensuring students are challenged at their school.

She said she also plans to work to continue to create a safe environment for the students.

“We have a continuous improvement plan that will feed into a district plan. A lot of that is focused on looking at where you are and determining where you want to be, and exactly what you’re going to do to get there,” she said.

“I always embraced the idea of looking at every child as an individual, so when you do those plans you’re taking information and looking at them to see what it is we can work on to improve education for each child at the school.”

Stark said she previously worked at schools in Daleville, along with Barbour and Pike counties before serving in Ozark.

She is currently working on her doctorate in educational administration.

“My goal when I started teaching was to be a principal. My path took me around doing a lot of things, but it led me right back to where I wanted to be,” she said.

“I worked at the university level for eight years in charge of student teachers, certifications, field experience, national accreditation … All of these things ironically prepared me to do those same things at the K-12 level.”

Stark said she is a Troy native who plans to move to Ozark from Enterprise soon.

She said her husband, Dave, is an instructor pilot at Fort Rucker. She has a son, Ashton Kelly, and a daughter and son-in-law, Meghan and Josh Hughes.