News

Lamar CISD welcomes the leaders selected as campus principals for the 2025-2026 school year.

Bertha Alvarez Smith Elementary Principal	Monica Auffant Lamar Junior High Principal

Bertha Alvarez Bertha Alvarez is moving up from assistant principal to principal at Smith Elementary. Mrs. Alvarez is a passionate and seasoned educator with more than 30 years of experience in bilingual education and school leadership. She began her career as a paraprofessional in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Over the years, she has served in a variety of key roles, including bilingual parent liaison, bilingual elementary teacher, bilingual specialist, and assistant principal.  

Monica Auffant is moving from principal at Wessendorff Middle School to principal at Lamar Junior High. Ms. Auffant has more than 19 years of experience in education. She’s held many roles including teaching Spanish and coaching at Apple Springs ISD, teaching and assistant principal throughout Lamar CISD and was the assistant principal at Wessendorff before becoming principal. She’s served on bond committees, received LEAF grants, and helped add mariachi as an elective choice for students. She holds a bachelor’s degree in math and Spanish and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Stephen F. Austin University. 

Dr. Troy Bethley Haygood Elementary Principal	Brittany Carpenter Terrell Elementary Principal

Dr. Troy Bethley is moving from principal at Smith Elementary to founding principal at Haygood Elementary School, opening this fall. Dr. Bethley has more than 25 years of experience in education. He's held many roles including teaching and assistant principal. He holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Southern University, a master’s degree in educational administration, and a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of North Texas-Denton.   

Brittany Carpenter is moving up from assistant principal at Gray Elementary to principal at Terrell Elementary. Ms. Carpenter has more than 15 years of experience in education. She’s held many roles including instructional coach, literacy specialist, and assistant director of professional learning. She has also held leadership roles at Katy ISD and Fort Bend ISD. Mrs. Carpenter served the TEA from 2020-2024 as a content expert for instructional materials reviews across multiple content areas. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Stephen F. Austin State University and a master’s degree from AIU, completing her principal internship through Lamar University. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in educational administration at Texas A&M. 

Dr. Courtney Dickey Banks Junior High Principal	Chamekia Fields McNeill Elementary Principal

Dr. Courtney Dickey is moving from principal at Culver Elementary to founding principal at Ella Banks Junior High School, opening this fall. Dr. Dickey has more than 18 years of experience in education. She has held many roles including teaching, assistant principal, and principal at FBISD before joining Lamar CISD. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Arkansas, a master’s in education in administration from the University of Houston-Victoria, and a doctorate from the University of Houston.  

Chamekia Fields is moving up from assistant principal at Lamar Junior High to principal at McNeill Elementary. Mrs. Fields has more than 20 years of experience. She’s held many roles including 14 years as a teacher, two years as a literacy coach, and five years as an assistant principal. She holds a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies from the University of Texas at Tyler and a master's degree in educational administration from the University of Houston-Victoria. 

Dr. Sherri Henry Bielstein Middle Principal	Regina Ingram Bentley Elementary Principal

Dr. Sherri Henry is moving from principal at Velasquez Elementary to founding principal at Bielstein Middle School, opening this fall. Dr. Henry has more than 20 years of experience in education. She’s held many roles including special education teacher, general education teacher, instructional coach, assistant principal, and principal. She’s been with Lamar CISD for seven years. Dr. Henry holds a bachelor’s degree of science in health from Lamar University, a master’s degree in counseling from Prairie View A&M University, and a doctorate in educational administration and leadership from Walden University.

Regina Ingram is moving up from assistant principal to principal at Bentley Elementary. Mrs. Ingram has served the Bentley community since 2021. She has held many roles including teaching and as an assistant principal at the high school level. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of Houston and a master’s degree in educational leadership and instructional design from Walden University.

Kathy Leverence Hubenak Elementary Principal	Destiny Lewis Randle High Principal

Kathy Leverence is moving up from assistant principal to principal at Hubenak Elementary. Mrs. Leverence brings ten years of experience in education. She’s held many roles including six years as a classroom teacher, one year as an instructional coach, and three years as assistant principal. She holds a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Eastern Illinois University and a master's degree in educational leadership from the University of St. Francis. 

Destiny Lewis is moving up from interim principal to principal at Randle High School. She has more than 20 years of experience in education. She’s held many roles including teaching at Aldine ISD, science instructional specialist and high school administrator at Alief ISD, dean of instruction with YES Prep Public Schools, and most recently as associate principal at Randle High School. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in counseling from Prairie View A&M University.

Jearine Jordan Fagert Elementary Principal	Dr. Lea Mishlan Wessendorff Middle Principal

Jearine Jordan is moving from principal at McNeill to founding principal of Fagert Elementary School. Ms. Jordan has more than 22 years of experience in education and the last eight years with Lamar CISD. She’s held many roles including teaching, instructional coordinator, assistant principal and principal. From 2002-2004 she was a Teach for America Corps Member and the Teacher of the year in 2007. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas, and a master’s degree from the University of Houston.

Dr. Lea Mishlan is moving up from assistant principal at Foster High School to principal at Wessendorff Middle School. Dr. Mishlan has more than 20 years of experience in education. She's held many roles including school counselor, assistant principal, and principal. She began her career at Pearland ISD then at Houston ISD as dean of instruction and principal. Dr. Mishlan earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of South Florida. She holds a doctorate in ethical leadership from the University of St. Thomas.

Angela Peters Velasquez Elementary Principal	Lilly Rincon Tomas High Principal

Angela Peters is moving up from assistant principal at Dickinson Elementary to principal at Velasquez Elementary. Mrs. Peters brings more than 21 years of experience in education, including 14 years as a classroom teacher, four years as an instructional coach, and three years as an assistant principal. She holds a degree from Sam Houston State University and earned her master's in educational administration from Lamar University.

Lily Rincon joined Lamar CISD as the founding principal at Tomas High School, opening this fall. Ms. Rincon has more than 24 years in experience in education. She started her career with McAllen ISD and was a teacher and principal at Houston ISD. Ms. Rincon has been recognized as Bilingual Teacher of the Year and selected as a candidate for the Houston ISD – University of Houston Turnaround Leadership Cohort. Ms. Rincon holds a bachelor's degree in social sciences from the University of Houston Downtown and a master's degree in educational leadership from the University of Houston. 

Mike Semmler Lamar Consolidated High Principal	Lacie Tivet Culver Elementary Principal

Mike Semmler is moving from principal at Lamar Junior High to principal at Lamar Consolidated High School. Mr. Semmler has more than 28 years of experience in education. He’s held various positions including science teacher, digital instructional technologist, assistant principal, and principal. He was named the 2012 Secondary Principal of the Year and received the TMEA Distinguished Administrator Award in 2019. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of South Dakota and is currently working on a doctorate from Grand Canyon University.

Lacie Tivet is moving up from assistant principal to principal at Culver Elementary. Ms. Tivet has more than 24 years of experience in education. Beyond her contributions at Culver, Ms. Tivet has been actively involved in district-wide initiatives, serving on the District School Improvement Committee (DSIC), the district MTSS committee, and the Operations Advisory Committee. She holds a master’s degree in educational administration from Lamar University and multiple teaching and administrative certifications across Texas and Louisiana.

Chris Wood Foster High Principal

Chris Wood is moving from interim principal to principal at Foster High School. Mr. Wood has more than 29 years of experience in education. He began his career as an English teacher and instructional coach at Houston ISD. He then took on various roles at KIPP Intrepid Preparatory School as an assistant principal, principal, and dean of instruction. He joined Lamar CISD in 2023 as assistant principal at Fulshear High School. Mr. Woods holds a bachelor’s degree from Buffalo State College, and a master’s in educational administration from the University of Houston-Clear Lake.