Karen Mathews will lead Wellington School's fourth- through eighth-grade division.
By DONNA WINCHESTER
Published June 9, 2004
LEALMAN - A new principal will greet students on the upper campus of the Wellington School when classes resume in August.
Karen Mathews, former dean of students at the Canterbury School of Florida, was hired in April to head Wellington's fourth- through eighth-grade division. She will be responsible for overseeing curriculum and extracurricular activities for 200 children at 4450 51st Ave. N.
Wellington's lower division serves another 200 students from prekindergarten through third grade at 8000 Starkey Road in Seminole.
Head of school Cindy Moon said the school conducted a national search that attracted more than 100 applicants from Atlanta to New York.
"We were so fortunate to have somebody in our own back yard who is familiar with private school education," Moon said. "She's very competent in many areas."
Mathews replaces Judy Dellert, who came to Wellington as admissions director in 1998 and was promoted to principal two years ago. Dellert is stepping down to attend to family matters, which have made working 10-hour days impossible.
"My mother became quite ill a month or so after I took the position," she said. "The last few years have been progressively more difficult."
She said she hopes to stay at the school on a part-time basis.
During her tenure, the campus undertook a 15,000-square-foot expansion that resulted in a new gymnasium, a computer lab and a business office. She managed to hold attendance steady at a time when many private schools saw a drop in enrollment.
Maintaining Wellington's reputation and continuing to attract students are among Mathews' goals.
"My challenge will be to get to know the students, the faculty and the parents and to use my experience in a new environment to help the school reach an even higher level of excellence in the community," she said.
Mathews, 48, received a bachelor's degree in Spanish from Connecticut College and a master's degree in Spanish from the University of South Florida. She came to Canterbury in 1983. She has taught Spanish, Latin and math and served as academic dean.
She said she recently began looking for a new leadership opportunity and interviewed at several private schools. Wellington offered her the principal's job on April 22. Two days later, her father, retired Maj. Gen. Irvin G. Ray, died from liver cancer.
"I was able to share the good news with him . . . and he was so pleased and proud," she said.
Mathews is married to Bill Mathews, the baseball coach at Eckerd College. They have three children: Chris, 23; Katie, 18; and Zach 13. They live in St. Petersburg.
