Lori Katz is taking over as the new principal at Mt. Vernon Middle School after serving the past five years as an administrator with Greenfield-Central schools.
FORTVILLE — Lori Katz is returning to her roots.
The former middle school teacher and current Greenfield-Central administrator will take over as Mt. Vernon Middle School’s new principal July 1, just one day after wrapping up her job at Greenfield-Central.
Katz will replace Brooke Tharp, who is leaving to serve as principal at Mt. Vernon High School.
With vast educational experience spanning over 20 years and three school districts, Katz can’t wait to start her latest adventure.
“I’ve recently started to feel that tug to get back to the middle school level. I love that age level of kids and overseeing that level of staff, so I’m really excited to be coming back to it,” said Katz, who has spent the bulk of her career at Carmel-Clay schools.
“Some of us are built to work with middle school students, families and educators. From my first days in the classroom I have been one of those people,” she said.
“I love their excitement, I love their passion, and I love that they are in such a state of transition from children into young adults. I think they can bring so much joy, and they really do have a love for learning. It’s our job as educators to really harness that and move it in the right direction.”
Katz started out as a middle school English teacher for Carmel-Clay schools in 2001 after earning a bachelor’s degree from Ball State University in English and secondary education.
She taught high school in Lansing, Mich. for two years before returning to Carmel to serve six years as an assistant principal at Clay Middle School, where she helped oversee more than 1,400 students.
Mt. Vernon’s superintendent, Jack Parker, said Katz’s experience made her the perfect person to lead Mt. Vernon Middle School, which serves more than 1,000 students in grades 6-8.
“We are pleased to hire a leader with Dr. Katz’s experience and proficiency in curriculum instruction,” Parker said.
A lifelong learner, Katz earned a master’s degree in school administration from Butler University and a doctorate in curriculum, instruction and media technology from Indiana State University.
She served a number of roles at Carmel-Clay schools over the years, including supervisor of learning, international baccalaureate coordinator, literacy coach and English teacher.
At Greenfield-Central she served as director of secondary education and then as director of teaching and learning.
Katz said she’ll look back fondly on her five years with the Greenfield school system, where she was able to gain years of experience serving the entire district.
“I really enjoyed the plethora of experience I was able to gain, which I think will make me a strong building-level leader,” she said.
Katz is proud of how the district handled the COVID pandemic, which fell in the middle of her tenure there. “We were really able to support staff and students through that experience and rebound strongly, which is a testament to the professionals and the family support at Greenfield-Central,” she said.
She now looks forward to making strides as one of the newest leaders at Mt. Vernon schools.
“We’re going to make sure things transition smoothly between Brooke and myself and find some time before the official start date for me to get to know the middle school and the kids and families there,” she said. “My first job will be to get to know people and build relationships and to get familiar with the processes in place there, so we can continue the school’s strong history of success.”
