Helm out, Gerrans in as Lawton principal

Christine Helm, who began as principal at Lawton Elementary School in 2010, has taken a job as assistant principal at Whittier Elementary School in Seattle’s north end.
Dr. Neil Gerrans, who has been vice principal at Lawton has been named interim principal.

Seattle Public Schools says Helm’s departure was prompted by the opening at Whittier. There is no word whether her term at Lawton was pleasant or difficult. SPS Superintendent Susan Enfield said Helm was “looking for additional experience and I know she has thoroughly enjoyed working with the students and families in the Lawton community.”
Gerrans has been an administrator and a teacher at SPS, primarily teaching English to English-language learners, as well as children and adults in South Korea. He earned a Ph.D. at Carnegie Mellon in computational electromagnetics. He enters the role of principal officially on Monday, Oct. 24.
Gerrans is the fifth principal Lawton has had in just three years. In 2009, Ed Noh, a beloved principal at the Magnolia school, left to pursue missionary work in Hawaii. Parents and students gave Noe a grand farewell party, dressing him in a Hawaiian grass skirt, oversized sunglasses and an Elvis wig. While SPS searched for a new principal. Former SPS Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson began moving principals around (including three in Queen Anne) and appointed Beverly Raines, the former principal at Brighton Elementary School, as the new head at Lawton. But Raines was bereft with medical issues, particularly with her husband, and her tenure was intermittent at best. She retired in 2010, at which time veteran teacher and administrator Kathy Bledsoe stepped in. Bledsoe had been principal at McClure Middle School in Queen Anne, too. Bledsoe insisted that she would not take the job permanently if she had been asked. And when her contract was completed in June of 2010, Helm was selected as her replacement.