Doherty Elementary School Principal Leaves for Birmingham

will have new leadership going into the 2011-12 school year.

The Birmingham Board of Education has hired Susan Crocker, former principal of Doherty Elementary, to replace Collete Ivey as principal of Pembroke Elementary School.

West Bloomfield School District public relations coordinator Pam Zajac confirmed the hiring and said that the district is hoping to hire someone to replace Crocker by the end of July.

Though Crocker said though she will cherish the memories and friendships she's formed at West Bloomfield, she said the move to Birmingham was best for her family.

"(This move is) in keeping with my favorite quote (from Ben Sweetland), 'Success is a journey, not a destination,'" Crocker said in an e-mail to staff last week. "I cherish the friendships and memories that I have gained during my 13 years in West Bloomfield ... through it all, I have been challenged, my thinking has been stretched and I have grown both personally and professionally."

According to Birmingham's deputy superintendent Paul DeAngelis, Crocker is also excited to meet the rest of the Pembroke and Birmingham community.

Crocker has spent past years in West Bloomfield and Birmingham, having served as a science and mathematics curriculum coordinator in West Bloomfield before moving into the principal position at Doherty. Before that, she taught 5th grade at Doherty and was the intern principal at the Birmingham Covington School.

Crocker earned her bachelors degree from the University of Houston and her masters from Wayne State.

According to DeAngelis, Birmingham Schools Superintendent David Larson met with several candidates for the position, eventually recommending Crocker to the school board earlier last week. DeAngelis said the normal hiring process was a little different since school isn’t in session.

“Typically, we would take a team of teachers and parents on a site visit to confirm our findings with the person’s current school community,” DeAngelis said. “With school not in session, we were not able to do so.”

Crocker will take over for outgoing principal Ivey, who announced her resignation at the beginning of June, saying she wanted to spend more time with her family.

Tim Rath contributed to this report.