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Association of Washington School Principals
Washington Principal | Volume 2– 2022-23
Washington State Secondary Principal of the Year:
Shannon Leatherwood
Spanaway Middle School principal leads by example, serves with heart
Evaluation Criteria: Creating a Culture; Ensuring School Safety, Planning with Data, Aligning Curriculum, Improving Instruction, Managing Resources, Engaging Families & Communities, Closing the Gap
In her role as a school leader, Spanaway Middle School Principal Shannon Leatherwood has held true to her two core beliefs: “What’s best for students?” And, “If it’s not sustainable, it’s not worth doing.”
It has also earned her recognition as the 2023 Washington State Secondary Principal of the Year.
Successful Outcomes for All
Now in her 12th year as a principal – and her fifth at Spanaway Middle School – Leatherwood leads by example and serves with her whole heart, creating a culture of inclusivity, support, and pride in students, staff, and community while maintaining a high standard of academic excellence.
In her time at Spanaway, she has built a strong and collaborative leadership team, increased the school's inclusionary practices, created better access to quality learning, improved school and student safety by growing restorative practices and strengthening support systems. This was all done by providing the right professional development for the school’s staff to grow their individual and collective efficacy.
Spanaway staff Kathy Elkins, Sharon Coward, Gretchen Herringshaw co-wrote the nomination for Leatherwood, singling her out for increasing achievement among students while also building capacity and encouraging professional development for staff.
Shannon is an outstanding representation of the fantastic principals, teachers, and staff who are dedicated to serving the students and families in Bethel.
Leatherwood leads by example and serves with her whole heart, the trio wrote, creating a culture of inclusivity, support, and pride in students, staff, and community while maintaining a high standard of academic excellence.
“At Spanaway, staff feel valued and supported thanks to Shannon’s impact. She manages a building leadership team that works within PLCs to address student needs and build the instructional program, while also soliciting staff input in decision-making and management of the school,” they added. “Shannon also finds ways to celebrate and recognize staff for their hard work and achievements.”
Over the six years of her leadership at Spanaway, Leatherwood has built staff capacity in trauma-informed teaching, equitable grading practices, restorative practices, collective efficacy, multi-tiered systems of support, the co-teach model, the PLCs that Work model, and dual language.
Leatherwood’s vision and leadership have improved learning and teaching for all students, generating irrefutable results: After six years of steady and consistent improvements, the school’s Spring 2022 SBA scores were at the top of the district for the first time in the school’s history.
What’s more, out of the state’s 541 middle schools, only one saw more growth in their test scores than Spanaway.
Paying it Forward
Leatherwood believes in paying forward what she received as a leader and does so as the president of the Bethel Principal Association, mentoring fellow administrators, serving on district-level committees, and presenting at statewide conferences. She centers her greatest accomplishments around the themes of culture, systems, and learning and believes relationships form the core of culture. It’s those relationships that allowed her staff to embrace collective efficacy on three key messages about their belief in students: “What we’re doing here is important. We believe you can do this. We are not giving up on you.”
Brian Lowney, Ph.D.,Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Schools in the Bethel School District, praised Leatherwood for her leadership.
“We are so excited to see Shannon recognized as Secondary Principal of the Year for the state. Shannon is an amazing leader who has demonstrated the ability to truly be the learning leader of her school in a way that results in both improved school culture and increased student achievement,” he said.
“Shannon is an outstanding representation of the fantastic principals, teachers, and staff who are dedicated to serving the students and families in Bethel.”
Watch Shannon’s video on YouTube.