The Times reached out to new Fountain Hills Middle School principal Dr. Kimberly Weeldreyer for her thoughts ahead of her first year in the district. Her message follows.

Dear Fountain Hills Middle School families, welcome to the 2022-2023 school year! I hope that you all had an awesome summer and found time to relax and refocus for the new journey ahead. I am super excited to be actively engaged with our amazing school community and I am especially honored to serve as your new principal.

Our dedicated teachers and staff are ready to get to know your children and present high-quality instruction for all learners. As we prepare students for success, we will continue to utilize the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework to promote student success. We strive to represent the following traits on a daily basis through our choices, words and actions: Be respectful. Be responsible. Be safe. Be kind.

Let’s welcome new and returning staff with new positions. I am excited to announce Ms. Val Reichler as our new dean of students. She has been with our district for 11 years; six years as our fourth grade teacher and five years as our first grade teacher at McDowell Mountain Elementary. Mr. Timothy Buckley has moved into a new full-time position as our instructional coach. Mr. Buckley was our eighth grade ELA teacher for the past three years.

Taking Mr. Buckley’s position is Ms. Leanne Reinhold. Ms. Reinhold is new to our school, coming from the Scottsdale Unified School District. Mrs. Alyssa Challman is new to us from Washington State and has been teaching since 2007.

Mrs. Challman will be our sixth through eighth grade special education teacher. Miss Krystin Herrera is new and she will be teaching our sixth through eighth grade electives (journalism, Independent Living). Miss Herrera began her teaching career last school year in the Scottsdale Unified School District.

I’m excited to welcome back Mr. Frank Coomaswarmy, who retired from our district in 2020. Mr. C will be our seventh/eighth grade math teacher. Mr. Ray McCanna is a returning teacher and he will be our fifth grade science and social studies teacher. Ms. Christine Iring is another returning teacher who is moving from fifth grade to sixth/seventh grade science teacher. Mr. James Collins, a.k.a. “JC,” will be transitioning from being our custodian to being our full-time security guard.

We also have some positions that need to be filled and those positions are sixth/seventh grade math, and an elective class for fourth/fifth grade.

What’s happening at FHMS? All staff returned on Aug. 4, for professional development training. Aug. 9 was our first day of school. Coming soon will be Coffee Time with Dr. W. and, as the weather cools down, Walk-in-Talks with Dr. W.

The staff and I would like to personally thank all the families for choosing FHMS. With our partnership between school and home, we can provide a high-achieving education experience here at FHMS. If there is anything I can do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask. I can be reached at kweeldreyer@fhacademics.org or by phone at 480-664-5420.