After nearly nine years as the assistant principal at Wellington Landings Middle School, Lindsay Ingersoll has been named principal to captain the school of some 1,300 students.
She replaces Blake Bennett, who was recently reassigned as principal of the Dreyfoos School of the Arts.
“I am honored to be selected as the new principal at Wellington Landings Middle School,” said Ingersoll, who has been teaching in Palm Beach County for almost two decades.
She lives in Wellington with her husband and their three children, ages 16, 12 and 5. “I have one in elementary school, middle school and high school — all in Wellington schools,” she said.
Originally from California, Ingersoll previously served as a language arts instructor at Lantana Middle School, where she was also a special education coordinator and taught special education courses. Ingersoll also served a stint as an administrator in the district’s western office in between her nine years at the helm of the sixth grade as assistant principal at WLMS.
Ingersoll said that there are very few changes she needs to make, since her predecessor and mentor did such an outstanding job. “Thank you, Ms. Blake Bennett, for encouragement and support during my time at WLMS, and especially as I am transitioning into this new role,” she said.
To let parents know what is happening at the school, Ingersoll is scheduling her own “Coffee with the Principal” meetings that will be held via Google Meet. Several of these will be scheduled in coming months.
Additionally, Ingersoll has outlined three areas of goals that are aligned with the Florida Principal Leadership Standards and Strategic Plan Themes. Ingersoll delineated the plans as:
• Establish and nurture positive relationships with the students, teachers, staff, parents, community, stakeholders and feeder schools that result in collaboration and frequent two-way communication to accomplish school goals.
• Work collaboratively to analyze current data systems and establish a foundation for systemic continuous school improvement for high performing academics and academy programs that focus on meeting all student-learning needs, identifying strengths and opportunities for growth.
• Analyze systems and culture of the school learning environment that improve learning for a diverse student population, single school culture, social emotional learning, positive behavior supports and professional development needs of teachers.
What does that all mean to the students?
“Continuing the legacy of excellence that we expect here at Wellington Landings Middle School, with the main priority of providing all students with opportunity,” Ingersoll said.
The new principal is looking forward to continuing to work in the community of Wellington. “This community is involved in every aspect of WLMS and all the schools,” she said.
The thing Ingersoll is enjoying most about her new position is seeing students progress over the years. “I am excited to have connections with sixth graders that I knew when they were just ‘babies’ and who are now eighth graders, and see the personal growth in them,” she said.
