Sarah Y. Williams, Ed.S.

Mattie B. Luhr Elementary School
Jefferson County Public Schools
Louisville, Kentucky
sarah.williams@jefferson.kyschools.us

Sarah Williams, Ed.S., took over as principal of Mattie B. Luhr Elementary School in January 2020, building on 15 years as a classroom teacher, staff development lead, and assistant principal in the building. In her first year, Williams led a seamless transition to distance learning by redesigning all school systems to ensure structure, consistency, and connection during the pandemic. Impressively, when full-time in-person learning resumed, student achievement tracked pre-pandemic levels despite broader trends of learning loss. Simultaneously, Williams led a transformative, multi-year turnaround effort for Luhr’s special education program, which was designated for intervention in 2019 for reading and math. Guided by the school’s mantra, “Every Student Counts, Every Moment Matters,” Williams led Luhr in a bold transition to co-teaching, integrating special and general education to deliver personalized instruction for all students. Amid budget challenges and a teacher shortage, Williams faced difficult decisions and took creative approaches to expand the special education resource team from 2.5 to 6 full-time teachers. In 2023, the school exited targeted status after seeing improvement in both special and general education assessments and was named an Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Distinguished School by the National Association of ESEA State Program Administrators (NAESPA). As a result of this work, Luhr teachers are more confident and more satisfied, reporting universally high trust in school leadership. Williams holds Ed.S. and M.A. degrees in Teaching from the University of Louisville and is pursuing an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Northern Kentucky University.