Stacy S. Lemelin

Meadowlark Elementary School
Billings Public Schools
Billings, Montana
[email protected]

In her 17-year career as principal, Stacy Lemelin has established herself as a self-reflective leader with a rigorous commitment to instructional best practices that allow every student to reach their full learning potential. Central to Lemelin’s success is her ability to foster a culture and sense of community rooted in safety and inclusion, which has served as a critical foundation for her stewardship of instructional change at Meadowlark Elementary, where she has served for 12 years. Lemelin has transformed teaching practices in both reading and math at Meadowlark, taking a systematic approach to professional learning and evaluation. She implemented MTSS for reading by assembling two multidisciplinary evaluation teams, restructuring of the intervention block, and providing comprehensive professional development to establish new instructional routines. The school observed more growth in just one year than the three prior. In math, Lemelin set out to improve fifth grade assessments by implementing WIN time and developing targeted lessons to address deficits and provide enrichment learning to the highest achievers. In the course of 12 years, scores have increased from 39 percent to 82 percent, and the school has incorporated an innovative game-based approach for all third through fifth graders. Lemelin is one of only a few Montana educators to be a certified Calibrated Master Scorer in Observation through Teach Forward Align. She holds a B.S. in Elementary Education and an M.A. in Educational Leadership from Montana State University.