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Dr. Shanté Oniyide

Robyn Crump

Elizabeth Franks

Lynette Nelms

Brynne Cere

Marye Werling

Dr. Kara Plank

Michele Vinnie

 

Hampton City Schools announces principal and department head changes

Hampton City Schools recently announced the following principal new hires and changes for the 2022-2023 school year as well as a curriculum lead promotion.

 

New Principals

 

Bryan Elementary School

Dr. Shanté Oniyide will be serving the Bryan students, families, and staff, as Lynette Nelms transitions to Mary T. Christian Elementary School to serve as their principal.

 

Dr. Oniyide has served the past 4 years as the assistant principal at Peake (previously Tyler) Elementary School and one year as an assistant principal at Bassette Elementary School. As an instructional leader, she has successfully cultivated a positive and collaborative culture and climate, building relationships and setting high expectations for all students. Prior to her administrative roles, she was a special education teacher at Booker (now Patrick) Elementary School, a special education teacher in Smithfield, and a special education teacher as well as a middle school English teacher in Brooklyn, New York.

 

She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary and special education from Syracuse University and a master’s in science education from Hunter College. Additionally, she earned both her ED. S. in educational leadership and administration and her doctorate in education from The George Washington University.

 

Kraft Elementary School

Robyn Crump will be serving the Kraft students, families, and staff, as Dr. Kara Plank transitions to Albert W. Patrick Elementary School to serve as their principal.

 

Crump began her teaching career in Hampton City Schools as a second grade teacher at Cesar Tarrant Elementary. She also taught at Bryan Elementary School before she continued to spread her passion for education as a Curriculum Integration Technology Teacher (CITT). She has spent the past three years serving as an elementary assistant principal, first at Langley Elementary School and most recently at Smith Elementary School.

 

She earned both her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Master of Arts degree in Elementary Education from Christopher Newport University. She participated in Old Dominion University’s Educational Leadership Cohort with Hampton City Schools where she completed her education specialist degree.

 

Principal Changes

 

Asbury Elementary School

Elizabeth Franks will be serving the Asbury students, families, and staff, as Marye Werling transitions to Machen Elementary School to serve as their principal.

 

Franks has over 22 years of experience in education all with Hampton City Schools, serving the past eight years as the principal of Langley Elementary School. Prior to her principalship at Langley, she served as a principal at Smith Elementary School, an assistant principal at Langley and Phillips, and taught at Tyler (now Peake) and Burbank elementary schools.

 

She earned both a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in administration and supervision from the College of William & Mary.

 

Mary T. Christian Elementary School

Lynette Nelms will be serving the Christian students, families, and staff for the 2022-2023 school year. Mr. Eric Stone was serving as the interim principal.

 

Nelms has 29 years of experience, all in Hampton City Schools. Since 2012, she has served the students and staff at Bryan Elementary as the assistant principal (2 years) and principal (8 years). Prior to Bryan, she served as an elementary school teacher at Tarrant Elementary, Cooper Magnet School for Technology, and Mallory Elementary.

 

She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from West Chester University in Pennsylvania, a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Regent University, and a leadership certificate from The George Washington University.  

 

Langley Elementary School

Brynne Cere will be serving the Langley students, families, and staff, as Liz Franks transitions to Asbury Elementary School to serve as their principal.

 

Cere has 15 years of experience in education all with Hampton City Schools, serving the past 5 years as the principal of Patrick (formerly Booker) Elementary School. She is no stranger to Langley as she began her teaching career at Langley Elementary School in 2007. From there she was promoted to an interim assistant principal at Andrews PreK-8 School in 2014, assistant principal at Andrews in 2015, then interim principal at Booker in 2016 and principal of Booker (now Patrick) in 2017.

 

She earned both a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from James Madison University and a master’s degree in administration and supervision from Old Dominion University.

 

Machen Elementary School

Marye Werling will be serving the Machen family as the principal for the 2022-2023 school year, replacing Jennifer Humble (relocating).

 

Werling has 19 years of experience in education, serving the past 5 years as the principal of Asbury Elementary School. She began her career in Hampton in 2012 as an assistant principal at Phenix PreK-8 School. Prior to Hampton, she was an instructional math coach and math teacher in Norfolk Public Schools and a math intervention teacher in Toledo, Ohio.

 

She earned her bachelor’s degree in middle childhood education from Lourdes College and her master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of Virginia.

 

Albert W. Patrick III Elementary School

Dr. Kara Plank will be serving the Patrick students, families, and staff, as Brynne Cere transitions to Langley Elementary School to serve as their principal.

 

Dr. Plank has 16 years of experience in education all with Hampton City Schools, serving the past 5 years as the principal of Kraft Elementary School. She began her educational career as a classroom teacher at Merrimack Elementary and Phillips Elementary and then a math interventionist at Phillips before transitioning to a Title I math coach at Tarrant, Aberdeen, and Forrest elementary schools. From there she was promoted to an interim assistant principal at Burbank Elementary School, assistant principal at Smith Elementary and assistant principal at Tyler Elementary, before being promoted to principal at Kraft in 2017.

 

She earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Virginia, and a PreK-6 teacher’s licensure and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Old Dominion University. Dr. Plank then went on to earn her Ph.D. in educational leadership from Old Dominion University.

 

New Curriculum Leader

Michele Vinnie will be serving Hampton City Schools as the curriculum leader for mathematics, replacing Dr. Angela Byrd-Wright (relocating).

 

Vinnie spent the first 10 years of her career in Hampton teaching mathematics. She has taught at Syms Middle School, Kecoughtan High School, and Hampton High School. During the last four years, she has worked as a math teacher specialist in the math curriculum department.

 

She earned a bachelor’s in mathematics from Christopher Newport University and a master’s in education from Regent University.