People Watch
School Administrator, November 2017


Ann N. Bonitatibus
After a two-year stint serving as superintendent of the 19,000-student Conejo Valley Unified School District in Thousand Oaks, Calif., Ann Bonitatibus has returned to the East Coast as principal of Thomas Jefferson High School, a magnet school emphasizing science, technology and math, in Alexandria, Va. Bonitatibus began her career in public education as an English and math teacher and principal in the Frederick County, Md., Public Schools. An AASA member for five years, she earned her Ed.D. in organizational leadership from University of Pennsylvania.
 

 

Donna S. Lewis
Goleta, Calif. Union School District has welcomed Donna Lewis as superintendent. She held several administrative positions during the past 18 years, most recently as assistant superintendent of human resources for San Mateo-Foster City School District in Foster City, Calif. Lewis previously was an elementary and middle school principal in San Jose, Calif. Lewis joined AASA this year. She earned her Ed.D. in educational leadership, administration and policy from Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif.
 



Judith Minor
The Department of Defense Education Activity in Alexandria, Va., has a new associate director for performance and accountability and director of student excellence. Judy Minor had served for four years in Community Unit School District 308 in Oswego, Ill., as assistant and associate superintendent. Minor started her career at a Department of Defense high school in Bitburg, Germany. She earned an Ed.D. in curriculum and instruction from Loyola University Chicago. An AASA member since 2008, Minor was in the inaugural AASA Aspiring Women Leaders cohort.
 

 

Lory D. Morrow
Lory Morrow is now the superintendent at Lincoln County Schools in Lincolnton, N.C. Morrow previously spent 3½ years as superintendent of Davidson County Schools in Lexington, N.C. She is in her 25th year in education, having served as a deputy and assistant superintendent, executive director, principal and teacher in various districts in North Carolina. An AASA member since 2013, Morrow earned her Ed.D. in educational leadership from Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, N.C.
 
 



SIDELIGHT
When Zeffro Gianetti was 3 or 4, he accompanied his grandparents to an Italian club where he took immediate fascination with the band’s drummer. “They ended up letting me sit on his lap and play the drums,” says Gianetti, who soon started formal lessons with the drummer from the Stan Kenton Band. “I had no idea what I was doing, but ever since then, that’s what I wanted to do.” After 17 years as a music teacher in his native Massachusetts and three years as the now-retired superintendent in Mansfield, a Boston suburb, Gianetti, 58, is still banging away. He freelances with Big Nazo, the Mango Jazz Trio and other area R&B groups. “It’s probably one of the best forms of stress relief for me,” says Zeff, a two-year member of AASA. That outlet is helpful, as he’s taken an interim middle school principalship in 2017-18.









APPOINTMENTS
Scott Crane, from superintendent, Grand County School District, Moab, Utah, to executive director, Southeast Education Service Center, Price, Utah
Jeff Danielsen, from superintendent, West Central School District, Hartford, S.D., to superintendent, Watertown, S.D.
Scott Feder, from superintendent, Millstone Township, N.J., to superintendent, South Brunswick School District, Monmouth Junction, N.J.
Kimberly Gruccio, from assistant superintendent to superintendent, Egg Harbor Township, N.J.
Melinda Moss, from superintendent, Harrison, Ark., to superintendent, Joplin, Mo.
Jay Nichols, from superintendent, Franklin Northeast Supervisory Union, Richford, Vt., to executive director, Vermont Principals Association, Montpelier, Vt.
J.P. Richardson, from superintendent, Gladewater, Texas, to superintendent, Tatum, Texas
John Schultz, from superintendent, Hopkins, Minn., to superintendent, Edina, Minn.
Belinda Selfors, from superintendent, Hayfield, Minn., to superintendent, Stewartville, Minn.
Ismael Vivanco, from dual superintendency, Entiat and Palisades, Wash., to dual superintendency, Palisades and Orondo, Wash.
Mike Waldrip, from superintendent, Coppell, Texas, to superintendent, Frisco, Texas
Vic Wilson, from superintendent, Hartselle, Ala., to executive director, Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools, Montgomery, Ala.
 
 
 
RETIREMENTS
Ellen Dougherty, superintendent, Lawndale Elementary School District, Lawndale, Calif.
MaryEllen Gorodetzer, superintendent, Colonial School District, Plymouth Meeting, Pa.
Randy Reid, superintendent, Keller, Texas
Thomas L. Williams, superintendent, Kirkwood, Mo.

HONORS
Debbi Burdick, superintendent, Cave Creek, Ariz., recipient of NSPRA’s 2017 Bob Grossman Leadership in School Communications Award
Scott R. Muri, superintendent, Houston, Texas, recipient of NSPRA’s 2017 Communication Technology Award for Superintendents
Owen St. Clair, superintendent, Wyoming Indian Schools, Ethete, Wyo., named to board of National Federation of State High School Associations


 
News about AASA members’ promotions, retirements, honors and deaths should be addressed to: Editor, School Administrator, 1615 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314. Fax: 703-841-1543. E-mail: magazine@aasa.org