MIDDLEBURY — Stephen McKinney, a Mead, Wash., native who has spent the past seven years as an educator in China, has been named the new assistant principal of Middlebury’s Mary Hogan Elementary School.

McKinney emerged from a field of two finalists for the job, which will soon be vacated by Michaela Wisell, who in July will become a co-principal of Middlebury Union Middle School.

A hiring committee held on-site interviews on Monday, May 9, with McKinney and Andy Johnson, currently a grades K-4 general music teacher at Milton Elementary School. His previous teaching experience was primarily in the state of Wisconsin, except for a two-year stint (2009-2011) as a grades 6-8 orchestra teacher at Burlington, Vt.’s Hunt & Edmunds Middle School.

McKinney has thus far spent his teaching career halfway around the world in China.

He most recently served (until October of last year) as elementary director of instruction at QSI Chengdu International School in Chengdu, China. He joined that school as a fourth-grade teacher, from 2017 to 2021.

Prior to that, McKinney worked as a fourth- and sixth-grade teacher at QSI Kyiv International School in Chengdu from 2015-2017.

Mary Hogan Principal Jen Kravitz is eager to welcome McKinney into the fold.

“Stephen has experience teaching at the elementary level as well as school leadership experience,” Kravitz said in a statement confirming McKiney’s selection. “Connection, belonging, growth, and respect are Mary Hogan’s core values, and Stephen has fostered these core values in his work at Chengdu International School. We saw this when he visited, for even via Zoom, he listened and asked thoughtful questions to learn more about Mary Hogan. Stephen has worked closely with multi-language learners as well as supporting faculty and staff from preschool through 5th grade with all learners. He will bring all of this to Mary Hogan and we are lucky to learn and grow with him here.”

Reporter John Flowers is at [email protected].