The Michigan City Area Schools Board of Trustees approved several administrative appointments at its May 30th meeting.
Cathy Bildhauser will take on the role of Co-Director of Curriculum for Michigan City Area Schools next fall. This will give her an opportunity to transition with current Director of Curriculum, Dr. Jan Radford, who will be retiring in December.
Bildhauser has been principal of Knapp Elementary since the 2011-12 school year. Under her leadership, Knapp has attained a state letter grade of A for the past three school years. This year, she was instrumental in the implementation of the math process standards strategy through a grant awarded by the State Development Network.
A lifelong Michigan City resident, Bildhauser was a student at Knapp and began her teaching career there. She has been a teacher-leader for MCAS and has been involved in numerous school-based and district-level leadership activities, including curriculum and professional development, school improvement planning, and grant writing. She also served on state committees for ISTEP+ and IREAD 3, and was a school diagnostic review team member with AdvancED.
Bildhauser holds a Bachelor’s in Elementary Education from Indiana University South Bend, and a Master’s in Elementary Education and an Administrative License from Indiana Wesleyan.
Daniel Caudle is the new Principal of Barker Middle School.
Caudle is the Assistant Principal at John Adams High School in South Bend. In this capacity, he supervised special education and science teachers, as well as student discipline. Previously, he was a middle school social studies teacher at Pierce Middle School in Merrillville and at Chesterton Middle School. From 2011-2014, he was an assistant varsity baseball coach at Michigan City High School. He is also an AdvancED lead evaluator.
Caudle holds a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education from Indiana State University, and a Master’s in Educational Administration and Supervision from Ball State.
Jeremy Lugbill has been appointed Associate Principal of Michigan City High School.
Lugbill has been the Assistant Principal at New Prairie Middle School for the past three years. In this role, he oversaw the 1:1 Apple iPad initiative for New Prairie. He also served on the district’s RISE evaluation committee, led the implementation of Positive Behavioral Supports and Interventions, and created attendance policies and procedures that resulted in improved attendance rates.
Lugbill holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science, a Master of Arts in Education, and a Master’s in Educational Leadership from Azusa Pacific University in California.
And finally, MCAS welcomed Kendall Martin as K-12 College Readiness Coordinator for Michigan City Area Schools. The K-12 College Readiness Coordinator will work with the administration and guidance counselors at the elementary, middle, and high school levels to help prepare college-going students.
Martin is the Director of Early College Programs at Vincennes University, where he has direct oversight of all of the academic and administrative programs and services offered at the Porter County Career and Technical Education Center. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern Indiana, a Master’s from Indiana Wesleyan, and is currently pursuing his doctorate in Educational Leadership from Capella University, where he earned post-master’s certification in Educational Leadership and Accountability.
“We are very pleased to welcome these individuals to our leadership team,” said Dr. Barbara Eason-Watkins. “We look forward to the great things we will accomplish together for our students!”