This spring, the Roaring Fork School District (RFSD) is closing several chapters and opening new ones when it comes to school leadership. In March, the district announced three hires for the 2025-2026 school year: two new principals and an assistant principal. Just this week, RFSD announced another principal’s retirement. Hiring for other administrative vacancies is underway. 

The announced new leaders all come from within their respective school in the district. They were selected through thorough and inclusive screening processes with four rounds of interviews and multifaceted vetting. 

Kendall Reiley, the incoming principal for Crystal River Elementary School (CRES), holds degrees from Dartmouth College and the University of Denver. Reiley taught at district schools for nine years before becoming assistant principal at CRES, a position she’s held for the past four years. 

“I am excited to continue the strong work that the staff, families and students of Crystal River have been carrying out. We have built a strong culture of focusing on both academic growth and student and staff well being.” stated Reiley. “This coming year, we look forward to continuing that work, as well as focusing on family engagement and ways to collaborate as a staff to better support students. I’m excited for our third grade bike and camp trip to Rock Bottom Ranch in a couple weeks, celebrating our fourth graders as they move to CMS and welcoming our newest Rams in the fall.” 

Lora Smith has served as the interim principal at Glenwood Springs Elementary School (GSES) this year after 13 years as the school’s assistant principal. Smith taught at GSES for three years before shifting into administration. She holds degrees from Central Michigan and the University of Colorado.

“I am excited to continue to build on the momentum from this school year,” Smith said. “Our staff has been involved in seeing through our major improvement strategies, which include building a strong staff and student culture, high academic achievement for our emerging bilingual students and a culture of using data to inform our daily instruction.” 

At Glenwood Springs High School (GSHS), Tom Penzel is also stepping into a more lasting role as one of the secondary school’s assistant principals. He has served in an interim capacity this school year, and has a long resume in both administration and teaching. He has degrees from the University of Colorado and from Colorado College. 

Bilingual communications specialist for RFSD, Cristina Vargas, shared more details about the evaluation and hiring process with The Sopris Sun. 

“Our hiring process isn’t built around a fixed timeline,” Vargas explained. RFSD conducts the selection processes with a tendency toward elevating stakeholder voices and giving candidates multiple opportunities to demonstrate key leadership competencies. “We balance the need for a careful, robust process with a sense of urgency. This year, we launched the process in November to attract top candidates.” 

RFSD is also in the process of hiring new assistant principals and other positions. “The selection processes are underway, and we’re making good progress. Updates will be shared through press releases as appropriate,” Vargas shared. The intent is for all selected candidates to start their new positions in July of this year. The searches for most of the remaining pending positions launched this spring. 

“We are thrilled to have Kendall, Lora and Tom in these leadership roles,” said Assistant Superintendent and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Stacey Park. “Their collective experience, commitment to equitable outcomes for students, instructional knowledge and extensive time in the Roaring Fork schools community are important assets in our broader leadership team. We are proud to see leaders develop from within our schools and hope to continue fostering a culture of continuous growth. ”

Another position yet to be filled for next school year is a new principal for Sopris Elementary School (SES). As recently announced, David Lindenberg is retiring after eight years as principal at SES, and over two decades as an educator in the Roaring Fork Valley. 

Amid these leadership changes, RFSD has plenty to celebrate. National Assistant Principals Week was last week, and May 1 is National Principals’ Day. The schools will continue to share periodic press releases as more personnel gaps are filled.