Childs picked to succeed Palli as new MHS principal

• Joe Childs

Joe Childs

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Superintendent Joe Graves will recommend Longfellow Elementary School Principal Joe Childs to be Mitchell High School’s next principal.

The school board will consider the recommendation when it meets in regular session at 5 p.m. Monday at the Mitchell Technical Institute north campus. Childs would succeed Mitchell High School Principal Yvonne Palli when she retires at the end of the school year.

Childs, 37, has been Longfellow’s top administrator for the past four years. Prior to that, he served as assistant principal and taught language arts at Mitchell Middle School.

“I’m excited about the responsibility and I’m looking forward to developing a strong bond with the high school faculty,” Childs said. “I’m excited because I believe my strengths and the strengths of those at the high school will complement one another.”

Working toward a smooth transition at both schools will be his next job, Childs said.

“Mrs. Palli has gone above and beyond already to make this a good transition,” he said. Childs called Palli “a true leader who always keeps Mitchell’s best interests in sight.”

Palli was hired by the school district as a math teacher in 1983. She became an assistant principal at MHS in 1994 and principal in 2002. She was not immediately available for comment this week, which is spring break in the district.

If the board approves, Childs will take over at MHS July 1.

Childs is married to Mindy Childs, who teaches special education at Longfellow. They have two children: Jackson, 8, a second-grader at Longfellow, and Madelyn, 4, who will attend kindergarten at Longfellow next year.

Graves said the Mitchell School District has advertised for applicants to succeed Childs at Longfellow. Selected applicants will be interviewed on March 21.

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