Wendy W. Prater

W.R. Fort Elementary School
Royse City Independent School District
Royse City, Texas
[email protected]

Wendy Prater has served Dallas area students and families as a teacher and an administrator since 1997. As principal of W.R. Fort Elementary School since 2018, growth has been at the center of all aspects of her leadership. Goal-setting and evaluation is everyone’s responsibility at Fort. Prater led her team in collaboratively building a new mission, vision, and value statement for the school, and each academic year is organized around one schoolwide academic and social-emotional learning goal. Teachers also set one goal each for professional and student growth, and students set and track their own goals throughout the year. Parents are also involved in goal assessment, receiving comprehensive data reports to glean insights on their child’s academic trajectory, and Fort students will soon lead data-driven parent conferences. With this culture and foundation of constant learning, a dramatic increase in shared ownership over academic outcomes and an environment rooted in strong relationships has emerged. Prater has mentored and supported the highly engaged teachers and leaders at Fort to pursue administrative posts or other career paths with enthusiasm and care. The school has been named a Capturing Kids’ Hearts National Showcase School every year since 2017. Prater holds a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies and an M.Ed. in Educational Administration from Texas A&M University-Commerce, as well as principalship, generalist (1-8), and math (1-8) teaching certifications.