The Montgomery County school board unanimously approved the appointments of three new school principals on Thursday, filling the leadership roles at John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring, Wyngate Elementary School in Bethesda and Lois P. Rockwell Elementary School in Damascus.
The school board also approved the appointments of a deputy chief in financial oversight, a director position in budget management, and an associate superintendent for the Department of Multilingual Education for Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS).
School principal appointments
The board appointed Karla López-Arias to serve as the principal of Kennedy High beginning July 1. According to MCPS, López-Arias has been employed with the district for the last 18 years, serving as a teacher, assistant school administrator, assistant principal and most recently as a supervisor in the Department of Student Engagement, Behavioral Health and Academics.
Several of her family members, including her sister, MCPS spokesperson Liliana López, attended the board meeting in support of her appointment.
According to 2022 school board documents, López-Arias served as the assistant principal of Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville before she was appointed to the behavioral health department in 2022.
In February, Vickie Adamson, the current principal of Kennedy High who was appointed to the role in 2023, announced her retirement, which will be effective June 30, according to a Feb. 7 letter that she sent to the Kennedy community.
“After nearly 32 years of service, I am ready to embrace a new chapter in my life, dedicating time to personal pursuits and family commitments,” Adamson said in the letter. “Though I am leaving sooner than originally planned, it is bittersweet because I love our students and the work we are doing here.”
According to the letter, Adamson started her career as an English teacher at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring. She also served as an assistant principal at Northwest High in Germantown and at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High in Bethesda.
The board also appointed Catherine Guenthner to serve as principal of Wyngate Elementary. Guenthner is the school’s acting principal and has worked for MCPS for 14 years as a teacher, special education teacher and assistant principal, MCPS Superintendent Thomas Taylor said during the board meeting.
In addition, Brooke Simon was appointed to serve as principal of Lois P. Rockwell Elementary in Damascus. Taylor said Simon has served as a teacher, reading specialist, assistant principal, principal intern and most recently as the principal of Watkins Mill Elementary School in Montgomery Village.
Other appointments
The school board also approved three appointments to central office leadership roles.
Katheryne Morales was appointed to serve as an associate superintendent in the Division of Multilingual Education. Morales serves as an assistant superintendent of multilingual education in the East Ramapo Central School District in Rockland County, New York, according to her LinkedIn profile.
The board also appointed Angelina Filipova to serve as a director in the Department of Management and Budget. According to her LinkedIn profile, Filipova most recently served as a deputy director in budget planning at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In a post on her profile, Filipova said her entire department at the FDA was eliminated during recent federal workforce cuts by the Trump administration.
Allen Francois was appointed to serve as a deputy chief in the Division of Financial Oversight. According to his LinkedIn profile, Francois serves as the director of school finance in the District of Columbia Public Schools.
