Jessica Wilson hired as new Bainbridge Elementary principal

“We’re super excited to welcome Jess here and I know that she’s going to be a home run hire for us,” North Putnam Superintendent Dustin LeMay said. “A great thing about this was that our staff at Bainbridge was involved from start to finish. Rodney’s (Simpson) leadership throughout this was outstanding as it always is and we’re certainly excited for the next steps for Bainbridge.”

Wilson received her Bachelor of Sciences from Ball State University and her Masters in educational leadership from Indiana University. Along with her son Knox and husband Keenan, Wilson was joined at the meeting by numerous Bainbridge Elementary teachers who were there in support of her hire.

The draw for Wilson to North Putnam as she tells is the small town that the North Putnam community presents.

“I’ve always been sort of drawn to the idea of a rural community,” she said. “I came from an inner city school and so that's what attracted me to Southmont and so Bainbridge kind of fit into that. It's a close knit community. It's student-centered in their culture and it's very easy to notice that the kids are well known around the community and they're well loved. I noticed that there was a donation to the Bainbridge library by community member and so that was just something I wanted to be a part of I wanted to be part of a team that was excited to work together to further children's success.”

As far as what stood out to LeMay and the rest of the school board when going through the hiring process, LeMay said that Wilson had all the tools that North Putnam was looking for.

“It was pretty obvious from the get go that Jessica is a person that is smart and knows her stuff,” he said. “She’s very well invested in the science of reading which is crucial for Bainbridge. She is going to be someone who works outside the box and focuses on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education and hands-on learning. She’s also a person who wants to be held accountable while also holding others accountable as well. She made it known that things start with her so that was another big reason we chose her.”

The hiring of Wilson is another step forward for the North Putnam Community School Corporation as in the just under a years time, they’ve hired Amanda Williams and Katherine Hamstra as principal and assistant principal at the high school, Bridget McCormick to lead Roachdale Elementary as principal and now Wilson at Bainbridge.

As for what is on the docket for Wilson as she steps into her new role, there is plenty of things that she’s looking forward to accomplishing. The first however is getting to know her teachers and students.

“I know that bright from the beginning my focus is going to be building strong relationships with the students and the teachers as well as the community members,” Wilson said. “I want to do whatever I can to support excellent instruction and making sure that every student feels seen, supported and safe to be able to challenge themselves in order to learn and grow, and I also want teachers to feel those same things.”

Being at the helm of Bainbridge, Wilson gets the opportunity to help shape and mold the future of North Putnam.

“You can just really tell from everything about her, that Jessica at her core just really loves kids,” LeMay said. “That’s what we want in all of our schools and what Bainbridge deserves.”