JOHNSTOWN – Several new faces will be joining the Johnstown-Monroe School District for 2024-25, including some new administrators.
The Board of Education approved hiring Michael Shipton as Johnstown High School principal during a special meeting earlier this month.
The board decision came after Angel King accepted a position with another school district and will be returning home to southern Ohio, where she will be closer to family.
Shipton previously served as assistant principal at Licking Heights High School beginning 2018. Prior to that, he was assistant principal at West Elementary School at Heights from 2014-2018. Additionally, from 2005-2013 he was an instructor for Reynoldsburg School District at Waggoner Road Middle School.
At the June board meeting, three more high-profile positions were filled.
Bradley Wehrman will become the new Johnstown Intermediate School principal. He has served as a principal of grades K-3 and K-5 for Southwest Licking Local Schools since 2013, supervising about 500 students.
He previously served as an assistant principal in the Licking Valley Local School District and lives in Licking County.
Greg Gantt has been selected as Johnstown's new athletic director. He comes to Johnstown from South-Western City Schools, where he served as athletic supervisor at Westland High School.
Gantt is credited with building a substantial social media presence for athletics and restoring the school’s gymnastics program after a seven-year lapse. Also, he has partnered with a current NFL player to host a free youth camp.
Gantt also coordinated a successful fundraising effort for weight room enhancements and orchestrated a new coaching evaluation system. He previously served with Harvest Preparatory School in Canal Winchester and also was an associate head basketball coach at Independence High School in Columbus.
Abby Fitz was approved to serve as the new dean of students at Johnstown Middle School.
She comes to the district from Licking Valley Local Schools and Licking Valley Middle School, where her various educational roles have included math instruction (including at-risk math and Algebra 1) since 2007, reading Intervention provider (2010-13) and Language Arts instruction (2009).
Additionally, she has served on the Licking Valley “Building Leadership Team” since 2018 and as a member of the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Leadership Team and District Special Education Committee (2015-17).
Fitz is also a highly successful and well-regarded volleyball coach at Licking Valley, with service in that coaching role reaching back to 2007. She is a Licking County resident and has served on the Crossroads Christian Church Sunday School Leadership Team since 2019.
Tina Cox joins Johnstown High School as an instructional paraprofessional and as the new Johnstown girls volleyball Head Coach. She comes to the district from Licking Heights, where she also has been a highly successful softball and girls and boys volleyball coach. In 2022, she earned the D2 Coach of the Year Award.
The board also extended a teaching contract to Joel Foxall, who comes from Harvest Prep and will be teaching Spanish at Johnstown High School this coming school year.
Two new Intervention Specialists were also approved for service to Johnstown Middle School: Emilee Edwards and Vincente Giardino.
Previously, it was announced that Johnstown Middle School dean of students Nick Hancock will assume the position of Middle School principal for this year, succeeding Kris Almendinger who is retiring after many years of service to Johnstown-Monroe.
During its May meeting, the school board also approved the hiring of Christian Grove as Johnstown High School’s new dean of students. Grove comes to Johnstown from neighboring Licking Heights Local Schools.
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