Photo courtesy of Sandra Verduzco, executive director of communications and marketing for Richardson ISD.
The Richardson Independent School District has named Kylee Wall, current assistant principal at Lake Highlands Elementary, as the new principal of O. Henry Elementary.
Wall brings more than 20 years of experience in education and 12 years of administrative leadership to the role. She spent 10 years as assistant principal at Northlake Elementary, where she helped the campus earn AVID Showcase Elementary status, before serving the past two years at Lake Highlands Elementary.
For Wall, becoming a principal after years of being an assistant principal is about expanding her ability to better serve her students and build lasting relationships with families and staff.
“I think selfishly it’s the impact that [educators] get to have,” Wall says. “In each job, the impact becomes a little bit greater because you have more kids that you get to directly impact and support not only in a principal role but also support the surrounding community as well.”
Kylee Wall poses and smiles with a student. Photo courtesy of Kylee Wall.
That sense of community is one of the qualities that drew her to O. Henry Elementary. With many of the parents at O. Henry being alumni, Wall is grateful for the family approach the school is surrounded by.
“Family is super important to me, and I am so lucky to be at a school where O. Henry’s parents are now bringing their kids back to school here,” she says.
Wall’s selection came after district leaders reviewed community feedback about the qualities families were searching for in their next principal. She believes her values align closely with those of the O. Henry community.
“My goal is not to, you know, undo anything here,” she explains. “It’s already a beautiful school and a beautiful community. I feel so lucky just to enter and be able to continue to preserve those traditions.”
Kylee Wall smiles with a student. Photo courtesy of Kylee Wall.
Wall’s commitment to serving families is deeply rooted in her own experience growing up the daughter of a Taiwanese immigrant. She remembers the many times she would have to translate for her mom during parent-teacher conferences, an experience she often turns to when she meets bilingual students.
“I resonate very much with our emergent bilingual students because I understand what it’s like to bridge those worlds,” she says.
Throughout her educational career, Wall has worked alongside veteran school leaders who helped shape her own leadership philosophy — one she describes as being shaped by relationships, capacity, transparency and connections.
With her official start date being July 8, Wall’s goals for her first year as principal include strengthening relationships with students, staff and families. She is also placing an emphasis on learning the campus’s history and using data to support areas of growth.
“We’re here to serve kids, and if we can grow every kid every day, then we’re doing the right thing,” Wall says. “And, if we can do it together, then we’re going to do it that much better and that much stronger.”
For Wall, family will always remain at the center of her life and philosophy, a value she hopes to bring to the O. Henry community.
