The Twin Falls School District Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the hiring of seven new associate principals for seven elementary schools. The new positions were approved at the Wednesday, May 24 board meeting, 7:30 a.m. Some of these new roles come as other staff members move into principal positions and additional positions come from the district's decision to transition from half-time associate principals to full-time associate principals, except Bickel Elementary School, which will receive a half-time associate principal position. The TFSD is transitioning to full-time associate principals in an effort to further address increased enrollment and student behaviors and support work to increase student attendance and academic achievement across the district.
The new
hires are as follows:
Rock Creek Elementary School: Jennifer Snyder
Jennifer Snyder currently serves as an instructional coach with the TFSD, a position she has held since 2018. Snyder has worked in education since 1998 teaching sixth and seventh-grade English language arts as a permanent substitute teacher in West Palm Beach, Florida. She continued to work in Florida as a first-grade teacher in a dual language immersion program from 1999 to 2005. Snyder joined the Twin Falls School District team in 2005 and has worked in a variety of roles including kindergarten through sixth grade English language learners, first grade, and Title I. Snyder holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Florida Atlantic University and a Master of Science in Educational Leadership from Western Governors University.
Sawtooth Elementary School: Shannon Youngman
Shannon Youngman currently serves as a fifth-grade teacher at Oregon Trail Elementary School. She has worked in education since 2009. Youngman worked as an elementary and middle school teacher in the Buhl School District from 2009 to 2015, as a fourth-grade teacher in the Kimberly School District from 2015 to 2016, and joined the Twin Falls School District team in 2016. Youngman holds a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from Boise State University and is in the process of earning a Master of Science in Educational Leadership from Western Governors University which she plans to complete in June of 2023.
Morningside Elementary School: Rachael Simson
Rachael Simson currently serves as the Instructional Coach for Sawtooth Elementary Schools. She has worked in education since 2004 when she began her career in at East Lake Elementary School In Clearlake Oaks, CA as a reading specialist and fifth-grade teacher. In 2008 she transitioned to the Twin Falls School District where she worked as a sixth-grade, kindergarten, and second-grade teacher and instructional coach at Harrison Elementary School until 2016. In 2016 she joined the team at Pillar Falls Elementary School where she worked as a fifth-grade teacher until 202. In 2021, she took an instructional coach position serving both Sawtooth and Pillar Falls before taking her current position this year. Simson holds a Bachelor of Arts in Multidisciplinary Studies from Eastern Oregon University and a Master of Science in Educational Leadership from Grand Canyon University.
Perrine Elementary School: Eric Bauman
Eric Bauman currently serves as the interim associate principal at Harrison Elementary School. He has worked in education since 2005 in the Twin Falls School District as a physical education teacher, serving students from kindergarten to fifth grade. In his time with the Twin Falls School District, he has worked at Bickel Elementary School from 2009 to 2014, Oregon Trail Elementary School from 2015 to 2019, and Rock Creek Elementary School from 2017 to 2023. Bauman holds a Bachelor of Arts from Boise State University in Physical Education and a Master of Science in Educational Leadership from Western Governors University.
Lincoln Elementary School: Samantha Mauch
Samantha Mauch currently serves as an instructional coach for Magic Valley High School and Bridge Academy. Mauch began her career in education in 2010 as a math teacher at O’Leary Middle School where she taught until 2021. She also served as a STEM educator from 2017 to 2020 while at O’Leary Middle School. Mauch served as the TFSD Math Department Chair from 2019 to 2023. In 2021 Mauch was awarded Teacher of the Year by the TFSD Education Foundation in 2021. Following her time at O’Leary Middle School, Mauch taught math at Twin Falls High School from 2021 to 2022. Mauch holds a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education from Idaho State University and is in the process of earning a Master of Science in Educational Leadership from Western Governors University, which she plans to complete in September of 2023.
Oregon Trail Elementary School: Tana Schroeder
Tana Schroeder currently serves as a fifth-grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary School, a role she has held since 2021. Schroeder began her career in education in 2015 at Harrison Elementary School where she served as a third-grade teacher. She also worked at Lincoln Elementary from 2018 to 2020 as a third-grade teacher and from 2020-2021 as an instructional coach. Schroeder holds a Bachelor of Arts in Education from Western Governors University, a Master of Science in Education from Arkansas State University, and an Education Specialist in Educational Leadership from Arkansas State University.
Bickel Elementary School (half-time): Heather Murray
Heather Murray is returning to education after taking time away to raise her family. Murray started her career in education in 1997 as an English teacher in Galt, California, a position she held until 2002. From 2002 to 2004 Murray served as Vice-Principal at Galt Joint Union High School. In 2004, Murray transitioned to Washoe County School District in Reno, Nevada where she served as Director of Options Programs for one year and high school principal for three years. Murray holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Bringham Young University and a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from California State University.