Wilcox Primary’s New Principal Comes Full Circle

Lynn Villa always knew she wanted to return to , and after a 10-year educational sojourn, she has.

Entering her 19th year as an educator and 10th year as an administrator, Villa is glad to be back where she started her administrative career as assistant principal.  

“As assistant principal, I realized what an amazing district this is,” Villa said. “I always knew if the opportunity presented itself, I wanted to come back.”

After her first year as assistant principal at Wilcox, Villa took a unit principal position at Hudson High School, where she oversaw 650 students and several departments. Villa worked with developing curriculum, planning staff meetings and helping with personnel issues.

“There was such a variety of things,” she said. “In those nine years, I was able to get a wide-ranging breadth of experience.”

She also took an interest in students with special needs.

“I think our job as educators is to meet the individual needs of every student, no matter who they are,” Villa said. “It’s about taking a child no matter what they came in the door with. Whoever walks through our door, it’s about learning who they are and helping them learn and grow.”

Her experience at Hudson enabled her to be the principal she is today.

“I look back to who I was 10 years ago, when I was assistant principal,” she said. “Those years at Hudson set me up to come in and run this school. I could never have done it 10 years ago.”

Villa said she brings a collaborative leadership style to Wilcox. “My goal this year is to get to know people, to do my best to have an open-door policy," she said. "I’m listening and learning a lot. I’ve gotten a very warm welcome.”

She also sees herself as a facilitator for the teachers. “I was so impressed with the staff … they were excited about trying new things and interested in teaching and nurturing the children.”

Now as the school's head administrator, Villa also works to overcome the stigma among students that the principal is only a disciplinarian. On a typical school day, you’ll likely see her on bus duty, spending time with students at lunch or reading stories in the classroom. “I’ve read the same story 27 times,” she jokes.

When she’s not at school, Villa enjoys spending time with her adopted 4-year-old daughter, who was born in Guatemala. Villa is a photography hobbyist and enjoys cooking and traveling the world.