Walter Johnson Principal to Step Down

principal Christopher Garran has announced he will step down as the head of the school.

Garran was appointed at a Thursday evening Board of Education meeting as the new community superintendent for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Walter Johnson, Wheaton, and Walt Whitman clusters in the Montgomery County Public Schools’ Office of School Performance.

Garran attended the meeting with his wife Charlene Eroh Garran, who is principal of in Bethesda, one of Walter Johnson’s cluster schools.

Garran announced his departure in a letter posted on the school’s listserv late Thursday evening.

“As your principal, this letter is one of the more difficult I have had to write,” the letter read. “With mixed emotions, I share that the Montgomery County Public Schools’ Board of Education has appointed me - effective July 1, 2011 – as the community superintendent for the B-CC, Walter Johnson, Wheaton and Whitman school clusters. I am pleased to be given this opportunity to serve more students and to support a large number of outstanding schools. Yet, I will miss tremendously the opportunity to serve as your principal and to work and interact daily with all of you.”

Garran has been a part of the Walter Johnson community for 16 years, he wrote – beginning his career there as a teacher in the social studies department. He became principal of the school – which this school year after the longest school modernization in MCPS history – in 2004.

“In regard to our faculty and staff, your commitment and integrity impress me daily,” Garran wrote. “You are truly a world-class group and I consider myself fortunate to have been able to call you my colleagues. In regard to our parents, I have valued our partnership in making WJ a great place for your children. You are always willing to ‘roll up your sleeves’ and to provide our students with more opportunities. In regard to our students, your talent, focus, energy, spirit and determination humble me. In particular, your ability to balance academic excellence with a commitment to others gives me incredible faith in our future. In the end, I thank all of you – staff, students and parents – for helping me to recognize the value of a school that sees itself as a community.”

Garran’s new position is effective July 1. Sean Bulson, the current community superintendent, and Denise Greene, director of school performance for the Walter Johnson cluster, will guide the WJ community in the process for selecting a new principal, according to a Friday letter Bulson addressed to the Walter Johnson community.

In the letter, Bulson wrote the selection process would begin by conducting a series of meetings with stakeholders from the Walter Johnson community to solicit input about ideal characteristics in a new principal. An interview panel will then be convened which will also include Walter Johnson staff, students, and parents. Garran will also be involved in the selection process.

He announced the first meeting is set for May 5.

In a listserv announcement, Walter Johnson PTSA president Debbie Teicher hailed Garran’s work at the school and congratulated him on his new position.

“Walter Johnson High School has been so fortunate to have Dr. Garran be a part of our lives in his roles as a teacher, administrator, mentor and friend over the past 16 years,” Teicher wrote. “Under his direction Walter Johnson High School has consistently remained among the elite schools not only in Montgomery County, but in the nation.  He has overseen our construction and leaves us in a beautiful building full of dedicated staff and teachers who are the very best at their craft.  Working with Dr. Garran as PTSA president has been a privilege and pleasure. Of course I am incredibly sad to see him move on, but I feel lucky that he remains a part of our greater Walter Johnson community.”

Read Garran's and Bulson's letters to the right.