Linell Dilwith

Linell Dilwith grounds her leadership in a commitment “to cultivate and promote a culture and climate of collaborative leading and learning.” As principal of Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School in Honolulu for the last six years, Dilwith has fully embodied this commitment, playing an instrumental role in shifting the school’s culture toward collaboration, professional learning, and 21st century excellence. One teacher describes her full embrace of the school improvement process by saying that “Linell had the courage to implement change for the sake of the students.” This is particularly clear in her development of an innovative STEAM program at Stevenson, for which she secured a $100,000 grant for science innovation—the first of its kind to be awarded in the state. These funds supported the creation of an in-house Innovative Invention Imaginarium, which has brought both rigor and relevance to the curriculum, narrowing the achievement gap while enhancing students’ capacity for applied learning. Her implementation of PBIS has been similarly impactful, leading to a more than 50 percent reduction in behavior referrals over five years. In the midst of driving instructional and cultural change, Dilwith also successfully coordinated a demanding 6-year WASC accreditation process. She holds a B.S. and an M.Ed. in Elementary Education from Chaminade University of Honolulu and professional certificates in Literacy and Administration from the Hawaii Department of Education.