Keeble, Jones ES, Black, and Nimitz Get New Principals

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Students and families will have new principals leading several schools. The new campus leaders were named over the summer before the start of the 2020-21 school year.

• Black Elementary School (Grades 1-5) — Principal Nancy Paredes
• Keeble Primary (EC/PreK/K) — Principal Sheka Mott-Dow
• Jones Elementary School (Grades 1-5) — Dr. Darnisha Harvey
• Nimitz High School & Nimitz Ninth Grade School (Grades 9-12) — Principal Aisley Adams

Sheka Mott-Dow

Sheka Mott-Dow has 18 years of experience in the field of education. She began as a fourth-grade teacher in Houston ISD at Hartsfield Elementary School in 2002. Four years later, she joined Longfellow Elementary School in Alvin ISD as a math specialist. Mott-Dow returned to HISD in 2008 to work as an instructional coordinator at MacArthur Elementary School before joining Fort Bend ISD the following year in the capacity of math specialist at Blue Ridge Elementary School. While in FBISD, Mott-Dow also worked as a SIM interventionist and later as a campus assessment coordinator at Lake Olympia Middle School. Before joining Aldine ISD, she served as an assistant principal in FBISD at Mission West Elementary, a position she held since 2017.

Mott-Dow received her bachelor’s degree in health education from Texas Southern University. She also holds two master’s degrees from the University of Phoenix — one in educational administration and supervision and another in educational teacher leadership.

“I am excited about my next adventure in education – in service of students, families, teachers, and staff at Keeble Primary. I will dedicate my time and energy to work collaboratively with teachers to continuously improve instruction by empowering teachers to take risks and granting autonomy to be innovative.”

Dr. Darnisha Harvey

In her 14th year in education, Dr. Harvey began her educational career teaching language Arts at Eckert Intermediate School (now Eckert Elementary School), where she was named Campus Teacher of the Year 2009-2010. Harvey transitioned to the role of English language arts/reading (ELAR) skills specialist at Ermel Elementary School in 2012 before returning to Eckert in the same capacity. During her years at both Eckert and Ermel, she served as a balanced campus trainer and instructional coach, as well as being a District ELAR curriculum writer and staff development trainer. Her work and contribution led to 73% mastery of fourth grade writing on STAAR in 2013, which was an increase from 59% in 2012. The following year, the campus had an 80% mastery on third grade reading of STAAR in comparison to the district average of 70%.

Harvey’s efforts did not go unnoticed. In 2015, she was selected to serve as an assistant principal at Stephens Elementary School. In her role, she was the ELAR administrator, the early intervention team coordinator, campus behavior coordinator, and campus mentor coordinator. Harvey would play a crucial role in Stephens’ turnaround efforts. Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath, along with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, visited Stephens Elementary in August 2019. It was part of their trip across Texas to feature schools that made tremendous gains in the state’s A-F accountability rating system during the 2018-19 school year. Stephens Elementary moved from a ‘D’ to an ‘A’ campus in the state’s A-F accountability ratings in one year. Close to 90% of Stephens’ students are classified as economically disadvantaged, and half of their students are English language learners.

Harvey has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Sam Houston State University, a master’s degree in educational administration, and a doctorate in educational leadership from Lamar University.

Nancy Paredes

Nancy Paredes began her education in 2000 at Harris Academy, before transitioning to Mendel Elementary School in 2007. At both campuses, Paredes worked as a fourth-grade teacher working predominantly with English as a second language (ESL)/ bilingual students and provided support for students with dyslexia and special education needs. In 2013, Paredes took on a campus leadership role serving as assistant principal of Mendel Elementary. Before her current position, she was principal of Marcella Elementary School (formerly Marcella Intermediate School), which she held since 2015.

Paredes has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Sam Houston State University and an alternative certification through LeTourneau University. She earned a master’s degree in bilingual/dual language education from the University of St. Thomas.

“It is an honor to serve the students, staff, and community of Black Elementary,” Paredes said. “I am excited about our work as we build on current successes and move forward to maximize student achievement and meet all students’ social and emotional needs.”

Aisley Adams

Aisley Adams has 13 years of experience. She began her career in the field of education as a teacher in 2008 in Houston ISD, where she served in various capacities, including English language arts curriculum coordinator, magnet coordinator, and skills specialist. Before joining AISD in 2019 to serve as principal at Nimitz Ninth School, Adams was dean of instruction at Patrick Henry Middle School in HISD.

In May 2020, Raise the Your Hand Texas Foundation tapped Adams to participate in a professional development program designed to empower and inspire school leaders. As part of the yearlong leadership program, Adams will take part in an institute at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education Principals’ Center in Cambridge, Mass., paid for by the Foundation.

Adams will serve as the principal of both Nimitz High School and Nimitz Ninth Grade, as they will operate as a single campus. Adams has already identified a strong need to develop a continuity plan designed around high-quality instruction and creating additional engaging learning opportunities for students. In the next few weeks, she will begin to create a cohesive and collaborative workgroup focused on improving student outcomes. The workgroup includes a transition team made up of staff and administrators from both campuses. She will also work with the schools that feed into Nimitz — Teague Middle School, Jones Middle School, Lewis Middle School, Jones Elementary School, Jones EC/PK/K School, and Ogden Elementary School to collaboratively improve student outcomes and ensure our students are prepared for high school-level courses before they enter as first-year high school students. Family engagement also forms a part of her plan.

“I am thrilled to start a new journey with you,” Adams said. “I am honored by the trust Superintendent LaTonya Goffney, Chief of Schools Katherine Roede, and Todd Lindeman, our high school assistant superintendent, have in me. I look forward to working with staff, our students, our families, and the Nimitz community, which includes the elementary and middle feeder schools. As we move forward together, we are going to take Nimitz to a whole new level of success.”