Northwest R-1 School District officials have promoted Jennifer Younkins to director of administrative services for next school year.
Younkins, 51, currently is assistant principal of special education at Northwest High School. She will oversee transportation and food services as director of administrative services.
She will start her new job July 1, replacing Jessica DiPaolo, who is resigning at the end of this year, after working in the director of administrative services role since July 1, 2018.
DiPaolo declined to be interviewed.
Northwest Board of Education members voted unanimously May 18 to promote Younkins.
The district had 12 applicants for the position, said Chuck McPherson, coordinator of communications and community relations.
He said Younkins’ current salary is $110,023.65, and her salary for next school year will be $113,764.45. DiPaolo’s current salary is $109,726.52.
Younkins said she is looking forward to serving even more students, from pre-kindergarten through high school, in her new role.
“I am also very excited to be a part of such a great leadership team at our central office,” Younkins said. “In addition, I get to work with the fabulous people in our transportation and food service departments.
“The first year of a job this big can be challenging, so I plan to listen closely, learn all that I can and bring a fresh perspective to the table. My No. 1 priority is to work in the best interests of the students and families of the Northwest R-1 School District. That I can promise.”
Younkins, a 1990 Northwest graduate, has spent her entire career in education at the Northwest district.
“I started as a teacher in 1996 at House Springs Middle School,” she said. “I left in 1998 when I married my husband, Scott, and then began a family.
“During that time, I went to school to earn a master’s degree in school counseling. This allowed me to return to the district, at Northwest High School, in 2001 as a counselor. I have been at the high school for 22 years, which I have absolutely loved.”
Younkins, who has a doctorate of educational leadership from Maryville University, has been the assistant principal of special education since 2019. Prior to that, she was a grade-level assistant principal at the high school from 2010 to 2019. She was named assistant principal of the year in 2018.
She was a counselor for grades nine through 12 from 2001-2010 and won the Jefferson County School Counselor Association Counselor of the Year award in 2009.
Younkins said it has been a great honor to work in the Northwest community, especially since she’s a Northwest grad.
“There is a sense of home when you work with the students of the high school you graduated from,” Younkins said. “It becomes even more special when you are serving generations of families who have graduated.
“It is truly a privilege, and one I take with great care, because it is one of the most awesome experiences you can have as an educator, seeing your former students thrive and become parents themselves.”
Younkins and her husband live in House Springs. They have three children: Alex, a history teacher at Woodridge Middle School; Katie, a student at Lindenwood University; and Nicholas, who will be a senior at Northwest High next school year.