Williams to serve as interim principal at North Putnam High School

Amanda Williams

BAINBRIDGE — Days away from the start of the 2024-25 school year, North Putnam has its high school principal.

Amanda Williams, who has served for the past two years as assistant principal, was named the interim principal during a special meeting of the North Putnam School Board Thursday evening.

The move was necessary after Jason Chew transferred this summer from his role as NPHS principal to Central Office as the new director of community partnerships and operations. Chew had served as principal for the last 10 years.

“It’s a great opportunity for him, and he’s off and running and doing a great job,” Supt. Dustin LeMay said of Chew.

However, that left North Putnam with a vacancy at the high school principal position in the middle of summer.

LeMay explained that there were initially no internal candidates for the job. Furthermore, school leaders believed the applicant pool did not fit their needs, so they decided to go with a team approach to principal responsibilities for the last several weeks.

With the beginning of school fast approaching, though, Williams was asked to take the helm on an interim basis, an arrangement to which she agreed.

“Amanda Williams will be our interim high school principal,” LeMay said.

Williams has one previous year of principal experience, having served as principal at Parke Heritage Middle School before coming to North Putnam. Additionally, she has served as dean of students at Southmont Junior High School, as well as teaching math at both Southmont and Danville Middle School.

Of course, the promotion of Williams leaves another vacancy, one that LeMay said will be filled by a team.

First of all, Andy Hofer was hired earlier this year as dean of students at the middle school. In the current situation, Hofer has been named assistant principal at both the middle school and high school.

“We’re really excited to have Andy on board,” LeMay said.

Additionally, middle school Principal Bucky Kramer has been helping with high school administrative duties this summer.

“Bucky, Andy and Amanda have really worked well together this summer to get our team ready,” LeMay said.

Moving into the school year, three others will be assisting with administrative tasks. Middle school English teacher Kat Hamstra has her administrative license and will take on additional functions. Athletic Director Bart Jochim will have extra duties as will academic adviser Scott Spencer – a former principal.

“With those three individuals increasing their responsibilities, we feel we’re in a really good position to start our year off on a positive note,” LeMay said.

While Williams has an interim tag in her title, LeMay noted that the position is not currently open.

“Our focus at this time is on getting the school off to a good start,” LeMay said. “Amanda has been a principal before, and we’re really focused on getting the school year started on a positive note.”

The superintendent took a moment to praise the team around him, as he is still relatively new to the district, having only been hired near the end of the fall 2023 semester.

“I’m on my eighth month on the job,” LeMay said. “I’m just so proud of the North Putnam team and how they’ve come together.”

The first teacher day for North Putnam Community Schools is set for Monday, Aug. 5, with students back in the classroom on Tuesday.