Dear Morey Families,
It has been my honor and privilege to serve as Morey’s principal the last 5 years. I have been offered the opportunity to serve as the Middle School Director for Denver Public Schools and accepted the position. My last day at Morey will be Friday, September 9th.
While the timing of this is not ideal, we have a strong plan for my replacement. Former Morey principal, Dori Claunch, will be the interim principal. Ms. Claunch has experience as a teacher, Dean of Students, and Assistant Principal in Adams 12 Five Star Schools and Adams 50 Schools. In 2005, Ms. Claunch joined DPS to serve as the principal at Morey and would later become the Instructional Superintendent of Middle Schools and Operational Superintendent. Most recently, she was the interim principal at Dora Moore ECE-8. Ms. Claunch’s previous experiences, successes, and commitment give me confidence that she will be an asset to the Morey staff and community. Please join me in welcoming Ms. Claunch back to Morey! Ms. Claunch is an amazing educator and leader and will keep Morey going in the right direction until we can conduct a full principal search.
I could not be more proud of what our Morey team has accomplished together over the past 7+ years of my tenure:
- Innovate culture and instructional systems that transformed the student experience
- We moved from a failing school (Orange on the district SPF) to an effective school (Green on the SPF)
- We grew enrollment from 200 students to 460 (with a waitlist of 60+ students the last 2 years)
- Consistently grew student achievement in literacy and math every year. We grew math proficiency levels by 30% the last 5 years and ELA proficiency levels by 12% the last 5 years.
- We redesigned the school with innovation status to become a personalized learning school
- We increased students of color receiving gifted programming by 30% in the last 2 years
- We created and then became the model for tiered systems of support at the middle school level that decreased out of school suspension rates by 90% percent the last 7 years
- We provided consistent, safe, and strong learning systems for students during the pandemic years
Morey and its people will always be in my heart and I’m grateful I had the opportunity to lead this special school for so many years. My time as Morey’s leader may be coming to an end, but my support of Morey is only getting started. As the Middle School Director, I will be leading the process to find the next permanent principal at Morey and will work with that new leader to ensure success for years to come.
The future of Morey is bright and I have no doubt that the systems and culture we built the last 7 years will continue on and adapt into more great things for our kiddos.
Please be on the lookout for additional communication regarding a meet and greet with Ms. Claunch in the coming weeks.
Thank you so much for all your support in my time here at Morey and with Morey moving forward.
All my best,
Hillary Niebauer
