Jackson Park Principal Takes Job With Affton School District

 Associate Principal Christine Powers has accepted a position in the Affton School District.

Powers will be the new principal of Mesnier Primary School, which serves grades K-2 and currently has just under 500 students and a student-teacher ratio of 15-to-1.

Elliott Shostak, who was principal of Nathaniel Hawthorne Elementary, will be the principal for Jackson Park.

Mesnier's current principal, Steve Brotheron is leaving the post to become Affton School District superintendent.

Speaking with  Powers called Mesnier a “fabulous” school, which she believes creates a very strong foundation for the district.

Since being offered the position, Powers said she has spent much of her time speaking individually with each staff member at Mesnier, listening and learning about the school.

“It’s a partnership between the school and the parents,” Powers said of her educational philosophy, promising to be very visible to parents and students at Mesnier.

In his single year at Mesnier, Brotherton made a splash with popular new organizational and communication structures at the primary school. Powers said she plans to continue those efforts, and she looks forward to working with Brotherton in his new role.

Specifically Powers said she will continue Mesnier’s evening family events, which she said help make parents feel welcome in the building. She will also be involved in the creation of a new early childhood education center for the district to make the transition as smooth as possible between the ECE center and Mesnier.

Originally from New Jersey, Powers went to St. Bonaventure University in upstate New York. She earned a masters degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Indianapolis and then a doctorate in educational leadership from Saint Louis University.

In 2001 she moved to Affton and began teaching at Central Elementary in the now-defunct Wellston School District. She left that post to work for the Missouri Reading Initiative, a state-run reading program that works with various school districts to enhance literacy efforts.

In 2007 she took a job in the University City District, first as an elementary school teacher and then as an instructional coach. Last year, she became an interim associate principal at Jackson Park Elementary, a temporary position lasting one year.

Powers said she hopes to have a long term stay at Mesnier.

Powers is unmarried, has no children and enjoys running, golf and staying active.