School Board Names Nayatt Principal

Nayatt Elementary School has a new principal, and Barrington High School has a new assistant principal.

The School Committee approved the two appointments in a special session Wednesday night in the air-conditioned high school library. The appointments fill two of the five top administrative positions that opened up in Barrington this year.

Tracey Whitehead was introduced as the new Nayatt principal, a post that was filled last year by two interim administrators who each served for 90 school days. Whitehead comes to Barrington from Hopkins Hill Elementary School in Coventry, where she served as principal for three years.

Edward Daft was introduced as the new assistant principal at the high school, replacing Lonnie Morris, who resigned during the school year. Daft, a Barrington native and Hampden Meadows resident, comes to the high school from East Providence, where he filled two posts -- interim superintendent and assistant superintendent of educational services.

Whitehead also has been an assistant principal at Hopkins Hill school and Coventry Middle School, and a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher in Middletown. She plans to start on July 30.

Daft also has been the principal and assistant principal at East Providence High School, where he also taught civics and government. He will join Tracey Varone, who has been out on maternity leave, to fill out the high school staff, said Principal Joseph Hurley.

Administrative positions that still need to be filled include assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction -- to fill Messore's previous position; middle school principal, and Hampden Meadows Elementary School principal.