Richardson most recently was principal at Thomas C. Marsh Middle School, and he is taking the helm of Woodrow Wilson High School. Outgoing Woodrow principal Ruth Vail resigned to pursue a doctoral degree.
DISD spokesman Jon Dahlander calls the personnel change “a major coup for Woodrow.”
“All you have to do is look at Marsh’s academic ratings,” he says.
Marsh has maintained a “Recognized” rating from the Texas Education Agency since 2009, with 946 of 1,056 students meeting at least the minimum standard on the Texas Assessment of Academic Knowledge and Skills last year. The school was rated “Academically Acceptable” from 2004-2008. “Recognized” is the second-highest rating, and “Academically Acceptable” is the third-highest.
Marsh also meets the TEA’s Adequate Yearly Progress standard, which Woodrow missed in 2011 and several years previously. To meet AYP, schools must have 80 percent of their students pass the TAAKS and achieve either a 90 percent attendance rate or a 75 percent graduation rate, depending on which grades they serve.
“It’s a really good thing for Woodrow, and I think the community is going to like him a great deal, and he will fit in very nicely at that school,” Dahlander says. “He has a keen eye on academics, so there will be a big focus on academics at Woodrow. That’s long been a tradition at Woodrow, and that will continue.”
Dahlander says parents asked for Richardson when principal slots opened at Hillcrest and W.T. White, but Richardson declined because he said he still had work to finish at Marsh.
