A message from the Superintendent

May 22, 2013

Dear Cleveland High School community,

Today I am pleased to announce that I have appointed George Breland as the new Interim Principal for Cleveland High School, starting on July 1, 2013. He replaces your current principal, Princess Shareef, who will retire at the end of June.

Mr. Breland comes to Cleveland from Nathan Hale High School, where he has been assistant principal for the past three years. Hale has a strong focus on project-based learning and creative approaches to teaching, as does Cleveland, and Mr. Breland believes in that structure and is excited about this opportunity.

George Breland will be a great fit for the Cleveland community and has a goal to focus on the students and their needs, both academically and socially. He intends to spend his time listening and learning so he can get to know the staff, students and families.
 
As is our practice with an interim appointment, the Cleveland community will have an opportunity mid-year to provide feedback. Then, we will decide if a search needs to be conducted for a permanent principal.

Prior to Nathan Hale, Mr. Breland served as Dean of Students at Rainier Beach High School. Previously, he held positions of assistant principal, as principal intern/house administrator and taught middle school math and science at the District’s African American Academy. He was also athletic director at that school during the 2007-08 school year. He started his teaching career in 1994 as K–8 head teacher at Seattle’s Zion Preparatory Academy, where he taught in math, science and language arts.

Mr. Breland earned a master’s in education from the University of Washington and a bachelor of science degree from Oregon State University. He received his Principal and Program Administration Certification from the Danforth Educational Leadership Program at the University of Washington and his Washington State Teaching Certification from Pacific Oakes College in Seattle.

We will set up opportunities for building staff, students and families to meet your new Interim Principal. Thank you for the high expectations that you set for every student, and for all that you do.

As your current principal, Princess Shareef, retires, we thank her for 13 amazing years with SPS. We are especially grateful for her tenure at Cleveland, where she oversaw launch of the STEM program and led with grace and determination.

Sincerely,



José Banda
Superintendent
Seattle Public Schools

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