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It’s less than a month until the 2012-13 school year begins and some new educator faces will greet incoming students at Magnolia ISD. 

 Brad Schnautz, last year’s principal at Magnolia Junior High, was chosen from more than 40 applicants to become the new Magnolia West High School Principal.

Before coming to Magnolia Junior High in 2010, Schnautz had been at Magnolia West for four years. He is looking forward to his new position.

“I am very excited about this opportunity. It’s good to be back at Magnolia West,” he said. “I feel lucky to know three quarters of the students already – the current seniors were freshmen when I was here before and I got to know this year’s freshmen and sophomores when I was at Magnolia Junior High.”

Schnautz looks forward to re-establishing relationships with students, their parents, the staff and the community and wants to help build a culture of academic excellence at Magnolia West. He feels his biggest challenge will be to implement the necessary changes at the school that will be needed to serve the collective vision for the estimated 1,785 students. He believes it is important for the school to produce well-rounded students that are prepared for the next phase of their lives. 

Schnautz came to Magnolia West in 2006, working first as a math teacher and baseball coach and then as assistant principal. He received a master’s degree in educational administration from Sam Houston University and is currently pursuing his doctorate in educational administration from Texas A&M, where he also received his bachelor’s degree. He was an educator at Conroe ISD and Bryan ISD before coming to Magnolia ISD.

Meanwhile, Brenda Marfin has been promoted to fill Shnautz’s previous job at Magnolia Junior High.

Marfin has more than 20 years of education experience, which includes serving as the MISD Social Studies Director and as the principal of Williams Elementary, as well as several years as a classroom teacher. She has been with MISD for 16 years. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in educational leadership from Prairie View A&M. She has a master’s degree in education and supervision from Sam Houston State and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston.

The district also welcomed Kendra Wiggins as the Director of Special Education. Wiggins is new to MISD, having worked at Tomball ISD for several years, most recently as the Assistant Director of Special Services. She was also a special education teacher and ARD (Admission, Review and Dismissal) Facilitator for the district.

Wiggins received her master’s degree from Sam Houston State and her bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M, and is pursuing her doctorate from Lamar University.

All three administrators say they are hard at work preparing for the coming academic year. MISD continues to grow as people move into our area and district officials expect to have approximately 12,000 students this year.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.