Dan Wilson, principal at Lynhurst 7 th & 8 th Grade Center, has been named Middle School Principal of the Year for the state of Indiana. The Indiana Association of School Principals (IASP) announced the award at a ceremony the evening of November 24.

Wilson has been part of Wayne Township since 1995. He began as a paraprofessional at Fulton Junior High School. The next year he became a teacher at Ben Davis Junior High School. He was named assistant principal at South Wayne Junior High (which became Lynhurst 7 th & 8 th Grade Center) in 2002. In 2006, Wilson was named principal of Lynhurst.

Wilson says two primary practices at Lynhurst have had the greatest impact on student achievement.

“First, we created a culture of high expectations and love,” he said. “Today, we have a college going culture that pushes kids toward high-order thinking and rigor, and supports them with love and a nurturing approach.”

The second practice, Wilson says, is the data team process within the school’s departments. Teachers and administrators have spent countless hours developing lessons and assessments to closely monitor how well each student is learning.

“When you step into Lynhurst, you are immediately aware that it is a special place,” said MSD of Wayne Township Superintendent Jeff Butts. “Mr. Wilson has hired great people and cultivated a culture focused on each and every child as an individual.”

Butts adds that Wilson has achieved success at Lynhurst by putting its children first.

“It is easy to see that Mr. Wilson’s top priority is the students,” Butts said. “His incredible leadership, through the best and worst of times, is exactly what earned him the recognition of his peers and his selection as the 2014 Indiana Middle School Principal of the Year.”

Wilson is one of two MSD Wayne principals who earned the Principal of the Year title in Marion County (IASP District 7) this year. Wendy Skibinski, who is now director of career and college readiness for the district, was named High School Principal of the Year for Marion County. Skibinski is the former principal of Ben Davis University High School, an early-college high school which has had a 100 percent graduation rate two years in a row.