Lakota hires two new principals for its high schools

Yejide Mack (left) an assistant principal at Sycamore High School in northern Hamilton County - has been hired by Lakota Schools to lead Lakota East High School, district officials recently announced. And Lakota veteran school building administrator Ben Brown will take over at Lakota West High School. Pending school board approval, the two will start Aug. 1.(Provided Photos/Journal-News)

Yejide Mack (left) an assistant principal at Sycamore High School in northern Hamilton County - has been hired by Lakota Schools to lead Lakota East High School, district officials recently announced. And Lakota veteran school building administrator Ben Brown will take over at Lakota West High School. Pending school board approval, the two will start Aug. 1.(Provided Photos/Journal-News)

Two of the largest high schools in Butler County will have new leadership when classes resume next month.

Lakota veteran school building administrator Ben Brown will take over at Lakota West, and Yejide Mack – an assistant principal at Sycamore High School in northern Hamilton County - will lead Lakota East. The combined enrollment of the two schools is more than 4,500 students.

Brown will be moving to Lakota West High School from Ridge Junior School, where he has served as principal for the past three years. Previously, Brown spent the last 15 years as an administrator in Lakota, which includes principal positions at Adena, Independence and Union elementary schools.

Mack has been assistant principal at Sycamore High School since 2014 and prior to her current position, Mack was a math teacher at Cincinnati Public Schools before becoming an assistant principal at Mt. Healthy Junior/Senior High School, which is also in Hamilton County.

In their statement announcing the two hires, Lakota officials noted Mack has earned a masters degree in environmental engineering and was pursuing a career in that field but returned to college to earn both a masters and a doctorate in education at the University of Cincinnati.

“I chose a career where the work is to serve the students, staff and families in the community,” said Mack. “I want to help students and staff recognize all that they can do and make the Lakota East High School experience the best it can possibly be.”

“It is always my goal to develop curriculum and activities that engage the entire educational community. I am devoted to focusing on culturally responsive practices and the diverse needs of our entire educational organization, which, in turn, increase individual student achievement and corporate growth of our educational community,” said Mack.

Brown described his leadership as including “my goal to provide clarity and depth of understanding through clear, consistent communication while aligning to Lakota’s vision and mission.”

Lakota officials credited Brown as playing “an integral role in building the ‘Westside Pipeline,’ an initiative that connects the Westside schools (which feed into Lakota West) across grade bands to help build a sense of community.”

Pending approval by the Lakota Board of Education at its July 20 meeting, the two will begin work on Aug. 1.

They will replace former principals Elgin Card at Lakota West and Suzanna Davis at Lakota East.

Card, who was Lakota’s first Black high school principal, is now the Senior Director of Diversity and Inclusion, overseeing the Lakota Outreach Diversity and Inclusion department, also known as LODI.

Davis took over the top position at Lakota East in 2012, and has moved on to take a director’s position with Grant Us Hope. The Cincinnati-based organization has brought the peer-to-peer suicide prevention program called Hope Squad to not only Lakota, but to more than 100 schools throughout the state.

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