Northwest Hires Principals, Assistant Principal, for 2023-24 School Year
The Northwest R-I Board of Education approved the hiring of two principals and an assistant principal at the March 16, 2023 meeting.
Gretchen Gorgal will be the new principal of Murphy Elementary School, Spencer Storey will be the new principal of Valley Middle School, and Dr. Angela Flick has been named the new assistant principal of Woodridge Middle School.
Gorgal has been in education for the past 20 years. In her most recent leadership role, she served as the head principal at Lincoln Elementary in the Cicero (IL) School District. Her experience also includes assistant principal, dean of students, and special education teacher.
Gorgal earned her Bachelor of Science in Education in 2003, and her Master of Science in Education in 2009, both from Western Illinois University. She will replace Dr. Ernest Motley, who is retiring effective June 30, 2023.
Storey, currently an assistant principal at Valley, will replace current Valley principal Nicole Huffman. Storey came to Northwest in 2020 when he was hired as the administrative intern at Brennan Woods and Murphy Elementary Schools. He was also a summer school principal in 2021. Prior to Northwest, Storey worked in the Hancock Place School District from 2004 through 2020. He began as a full-time substitute teacher for a year before moving to the sixth grade level in 2005, where he was a math and language arts teacher until 2013. In 2013, he began teaching fourth grade before coming to Northwest. Storey has also been the head coach of both the Hancock Place junior varsity and varsity girls basketball teams.
Storey earned his Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Southwest Missouri State University in 2004. He earned his Graduate degree in Education Administration in 2011 from William Woods University, and he is currently finishing his doctorate in Educational Leadership from Maryville University.
Flick comes to Northwest from the Francis Howell School District. She is currently the Mathematics department chair and math teacher for grades 6 and 7 at Francis Howell Middle School. She also serves on various district and building-level committees, and is a cohort member in the Leadership in Educational Administration program. In 2012-14, she taught math, history, and special services, plus grade 2 at Johnson County Christian Academy. From 2008-12, she taught math for grades 6 and 8 at Holden R-III School District, and from 2006-08, taught Grade 8 math at Clinton School District #124.
Flick received her Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science in 2004. In 2008, she received her Master of Arts in Middle School Mathematics Education, earning both of those degrees at Central Missouri State University. She earned her Educational Specialist degree in School Administration from Lindenwood University in 2016, and her Doctorate of Education in Leadership in Teaching and Learning in 2019 from Missouri Baptist University. She will replace current Woodridge assistant principal Dr. Elizabeth Green.
Storey, Gorgal, and Flick will begin their respective roles beginning July 1, 2023.
