New principal named at Ashton Elementary School

Kristi Jarvis has been assistant principal at Phillippi Shores Elementary School

Kristi Jarvis. Photo courtesy Sarasota County Schools

Sarasota County Schools Superintendent Todd Bowden has named Phillippi Shores Elementary School Assistant Principal Kristi Jarvis as the new acting principal of Ashton Elementary School, the Sarasota County School District has announced.

Current Ashton Principal Christopher Renouf has been appointed to a district position as executive director of elementary schools, a news release notes. Both Jarvis and Renouf will begin their new duties June 7, the release adds.

Jarvis, 39, has been assistant principal at Phillippi since 2015, the release says. She was an assistant principal intern at Tatum Ridge Elementary School from 2012-15.

She taught third and fourth grades at Brentwood Elementary School from 2005-12, the release notes, and she also served Brentwood as a literacy/data coach, a reading /math resource teacher and testing coordinator.

Before joining the Sarasota County Schools, she taught first through third grades and served as an intervention specialist for students with special needs at Twin Oak Elementary School in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, the release points out.

Jarvis holds a master’s degree in educational leadership and administration from Jones International University in Centennial, Colo., and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and specific learning disabilities from Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Ohio, the release says. “She also has studied in the Ohio State University Literacy Collaborative program, which focuses on coaching and modeling early reading skills,” the release points out.

While serving as a school administrator, she has taken an additional active role in Sarasota County School District leadership, the release continues. She has been active on the Report Card Committee and the Textbook Adoption committee, the release says, and she served on the district task force to improve early learning in the effort to facilitate a smooth transition for preschool students going into kindergarten. She also chairs the district Achievement Gap Task Force Attendance Committee.

Jarvis is a Sarasota native who attended Garden Elementary School and Venice Middle School before graduating from Venice High School, the release adds. She and her husband, David Jarvis, have a 9-year-old son, Landon, who attends Pine View School and a 5-year-old daughter, Lily, who will start kindergarten at Ashton in August, the release points out.

Jarvis is thrilled to have been chosen to lead Ashton Elementary School, the release continues. “Ashton Elementary is recognized in the county and around the state as an outstanding elementary school,” she said in the release. “Ashton has superior achievement test scores, amazing extracurricular activities, tremendously supportive parents, and a dynamic leadership team.”