Citing a need to be closer to family, Lincoln Middle/High School’s principal and assistant principal are both departing their positions in the coming weeks.
Western Wayne Schools’ board approved the resignations of Principal Melissa Zimmerman, effective Nov. 6, and Carrie Mastriano, assistant principal, effective Dec. 18, during its Oct. 21 meeting.
Mastriano will become the school’s interim principal after Zimmerman’s departure, but only will be in that role a brief time until her own family moves out of state.
WWS advertised both jobs with an application deadline of Nov. 6.
Zimmerman told WWN after the meeting that she’s very grateful she had the opportunity to serve the WWS community.
While Zimmerman said she will greatly miss the people who took good care of her since she joined LMHS as assistant principal about 15 months ago, she said she made the decision for her family.
Zimmerman will be assistant principal at Valley Mills Elementary in Indianapolis’ Decatur Township, closer to her home.
Zimmerman said the school will be in good hands with Mastriano during the principal search, and said hiring Mastriano was one of her best decisions she made.
School accountability model
Todd Bess, who has served as executive director of Indiana Association of School Principals for 14 years, shared information about Indiana’s new school accountability letter grades.
Indiana will resume issuing A-F letter grades for schools in December after a five-year pause.
The state board of education approved the model in March 2026 to be implemented with results from the 2025-2026 school year.
That data will be called “year zero” while educators learn more about the new guidelines.
This time, student attendance, showing progress in academic mastery, and additional knowledge, skills and experiences such as completing graduation plans and earning credentials of value will carry increased weight in helping schools earn better grades. Keeping accurate records will be crucial.
WWS Superintendent Melissa McIntire emphasized that teachers need to focus on reteaching and reassessing students’ knowledge on core content to make sure they are mastering what needs to be learned before focusing on other concepts.
Students need to achieve 94% attendance, or miss fewer than 10 days, for their schools to earn the maximum score.
Bess told the board he believes WWS is in good position for the letter grade system because of what’s already taking place there. He said doing what’s best for kids in helping them learn will lead to higher scores.
In other business
WWS had enough instructional minutes to cover the first three days of school missed to flooding, so Jan. 4 will become a teacher professional development day for safety training.
Administrators praised counselor Amy Oliger for her help monitoring attendance and accountability for students in its new virtual school. Program enrollment is increasing.
Outgoing State Rep. Brad Barrett is meeting with Western Wayne Elementary’s fourth graders to help them connect Indiana history with what’s currently happening in government.
The board’s Nov. 11 meeting will be at 5 p.m. at LMHS because of the community Thanksgiving dinner there later in the evening.
Approvals
- WWS’ 2027 capital projects and bus replacement plans and budgets for education, debt service, operations and rainy day funds.
- Professional development/conference requests from McIntire for the National Rural Education Association, where she spoke about successes at WWS, and Betty Huddleston, food service director, for Indiana School Nutrition Association, Winners Drink Milk Summit and co-op meetings.
- Business Professionals of America’s popcorn sale through Nov. 12
- Several donations for outdoor signs from Bertschland Farms, $750; Brent Fortman, Mark Denzler and Bowman & Thalls, $500 each; $300, Fultz Family Enterprise; Mick/Olevia Fowler, James Potter and Tom/Mary Heyob, $250 each; and Daryl Lane, $100. Gifts for other projects: $1,000 from Reid Health for athletic training supplies; $200 from American Legion and $100 from McGowin Insurance/Sarah Pennington, for academic awards.
Personnel
- Hires: Maddie Brumfield, middle school special education instructional aide; Chloe Estes, elementary instructional aide; Michael Mullen, technology assistant
- Departures: Jordan Scruggs, technology assistant; Jessica Williams, elementary instructional aide; Tyler Hunt, cafeteria
A version of this article will appear in the October 28 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.
