School: Neillsville - New
Middle School Principal (2019)
Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail:
dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Poeschel
----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 8/14/2019
Poeschel to Serve as Middle School Principal (2019)
Kory Poeschel
By Valerie Brecht
New this fall, the Neillsville School District will have a principal
specifically designated to work with students in the middle grades.
That person will be Kory Poeschel. She will be the principal for grades six
through eight.
Poeschel has been with the district since August 2013 as instructional
facilitator. Last year, Poeschel was placed on an administrative contract
and director of curriculum and instruction was added to her title.
As principal, Poeschel said she will retain many of her current duties “with
a few being redistributed and some … accomplished through a team effort with
the other principals,” she wrote in an email.
“It was important to me to keep many of the instruction facilitator/director
of curriculum duties as I did not want to lose the district-wide focus that
the instructional facilitator position has provided the last six years for
the School District of Neillsville.”
Poeschel received her bachelor’s degree in vocational rehabilitation and her
master’s in education from UW-Stout. She also completed Viterbo University’s
leadership licensure program for principal and director of curriculum and
instruction.
The majority of her career in education has been spent in a middle school
setting. Prior to her time at Neillsville, Poeschel was a middle school
special education teacher in Baraboo for 19 years.
“Since I have been in Neillsville, I have had the privilege of being a part
of the administrative team which has allowed me to have a district-wide view
and vision. This will be a benefit as we transition students from the
elementary into the middle school as well as being aware of the
opportunities students will encounter as they leave the middle school for
their high school career,” she said.
As middle school principal, Poeschel will serve as the instructional leader
for the building, “Ensuring that we meet students where they are at and grow
them both academically and socio-emotionally,” she said.
She will also strive to cultivate a culture conducive to learning and be
responsible for the daily operations of the middle school. She wants to
serve as an advocate for students and staff, she said.
Previously, the district had one principal for grades one through six and
another for grades seven through 12. Poeschel believes that having a
distinct middle school principal will help to better meet the needs of
students in that age category.
“I believe that having a separate 6-8 principal is extremely important.
Adolescence is the second-fastest growth period in a person’s life only
second to the first year of life. Therefore, middle school students have
unique needs that are different from both elementary students and high
schoolers,” she said. “Having a designated middle school principal gives the
middle school a voice to ensure they do not get lost in the middle.”
“I am looking forward to seeing each of the students grow and change over
the course of their three years in the middle school. I also look forward to
serving the students and staff of the middle school,” she said.
