The Northwest R-1 School District will have new principals at Murphy Elementary School and Valley Middle School next school year. Woodridge Middle School will have a new assistant principal.
Spencer Storey will be the new principal at Valley Middle, Gretchen Gorgal will be the new principal at Murphy Elementary and Angela Flick has been named the new assistant principal for Woodridge Middle.
The Northwest Board of Education voted 6-0 on March 16 to promote Storey to the Valley Middle principal job and to hire Gorgal and Flick from outside the district for the other two positions. Board member Retta Tuggle was absent from the meeting.
Storey
Storey, currently an assistant principal at Valley Middle, will replace the school’s current principal, Nicole Huffman, who will resign at the end of the school year.
Huffman is being paid a $112,019.24 annual salary. Storey will be paid $106,972.68 next school year while his current salary is $86,429.20, said Chuck McPherson, the Northwest district’s coordinator of communications and community relations.
He said 20 people applied for the principal job.
Dorean Dow, assistant superintendent of secondary schools, said Storey is working on making a smooth transition into the job.
“He is committed to teamwork and collaboration and has already met with departments and individual teachers to identify where they would like to see Valley continue to grow,” Dow said. “His dedication to students, energy, and positivity will be valuable in maintaining the good work already happening in the building.”
Storey, 42, lives in Kirkwood with his wife, Ellen, and two children: Declan and Gavin.
“I am extremely excited about this opportunity to lead at Valley Middle School,” he said. “I see such great potential for the staff and students here and look forward to being a part of the progress.”
Storey came to Northwest in 2020 when he was hired as the administrative intern at Brennan Woods and Murphy elementary schools. He was also a summer school principal in 2021.
Prior to joining Northwest, Storey worked as a teacher in the Hancock Place School District from 2004 through 2020. He began as a full-time substitute teacher for a year before being hired as a teacher in 2005. Storey also was the head coach of both the Hancock Place junior varsity and varsity girls basketball teams.
Storey earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Southwest Missouri State University in 2004 and a master’s degree in education administration in 2011 from William Woods University. He currently is working to finish a doctorate in educational leadership at Maryville University.
Gorgal
Gorgal, the principal at Lincoln Elementary in the Cicero (Illinois) School District, will replace Ernest Motley, who will retire on June 30.
Motley was paid a $113,642.20 annual salary. Gorgal will be paid $96,063.56 next school year.
There were 20 applicants for the position, McPherson said.
Grace Green, assistant superintendent of elementary schools, said Gorgal was a good pick.
“Ms. Gorgal has been in education for the past 20 years. In her most recent leadership role, she enhanced instructional practices that led to positive academic achievement and cultivated a school environment in which students were leaders of their own learning,” Green said. “She has already started attending building meetings and visits to get to know the staff and students. She has been greeted with many hugs and smiles from the students at Murphy Elementary and is looking forward to her work next school year.”
Gorgal, 41, of Manchester said she is excited about her new position.
“I spent a day at Murphy last week and was able to meet and get to know the staff and students,” she said. “They did an amazing job welcoming me and making me feel so special.
“I have been in education for 20 years – 10 years as a teacher and 10 years as a school administrator. I was a dean of students, an assistant principal and was most recently a principal for six years in Cicero School District 99. Being a building principal is what brings me so much love and joy in my life.”
Gorgal earned a bachelor’s degree in education in 2003 and a master’s degree in education in 2009, both from Western Illinois University.
Flick
Flick, a teacher with the Francis Howell School District, will replace current Woodridge assistant principal Elizabeth Green, who was promoted to principal. Green made $90,593 a year as an assistant principal. Her annual salary as principal will be $103,455. Flick’s salary will be $90,216.91.
McPherson said the Northwest district received 49 applicants for the assistant principal position.
“Angie Flick is a strong instructional leader,” Dow said. “Her background in mathematics and her ability to facilitate professional development will ensure a strong focus on continued instructional improvement. She has already started attending building meetings and professional development to get to know staff and get oriented to the building’s processes and plans. She has been received warmly by the staff and is looking forward to continuing the work next school year.
Flick comes to Northwest from Francis Howell Middle School, where she teaches and is the mathematics department chair. She also serves on various district and building-level committees, and is a cohort member in the Leadership in Educational Administration program.
Before joining Francis Howell, she was a teacher at Johnson County Christian Academy. She also previously was a teacher at the Holden R-3 School District and the Clinton School District #124.
Flick earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science in 2004 and a master’s degree in middle school mathematics education in 2008, both from Central Missouri State University.
She earned an educational specialist degree in school administration from Lindenwood University in 2016, and a doctorate of education in leadership in teaching and learning in 2019 from Missouri Baptist University.
Storey, Gorgal, and Flick will begin their respective roles beginning July 1.