DART's New Interim Principal

Dear staff and families,

I am pleased to announce that Karly Lefferts will be the new interim principal of the Portland DART School.

Karly is coming to DART from Woodlawn Elementary School where she has served as the assistant principal since 2022. Prior to her time at Woodlawn, she was assistant principal of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School. In both roles, she collaborated with parents, school personnel, community agencies, and district administrators to provide optimum supports and effective interventions focused on student success. She also consulted with grade-level teams and district specialists to develop effective curriculum and intervention strategies, reviewed and revised those strategies based on student achievement, and was instrumental in implementing inclusive subject matter best practices. Karly also served PPS’s special education department as Program Administrator for K-12 schools.

Prior to joining PPS, Karly worked as the interim Dean of Students for the North Clackamas School District, where she also taught middle grade literacy, math, science, social studies, and engineering. Her extensive experience includes serving as the K-3 Behavior Support Program Case Manager and Mentor for special education in the Oregon City School District; Program Coordinator for Before and After School Study Skills in the West Linn-Wilsonville School District; K-3 Alternative Instructional Methods and summer school teacher in the Clackamas Education Service District; and 2nd-5th grade behavioral learning specialist for Molalla River School District.

In addition to working as an administrator, classroom teacher, and student advocate, Karly also served as a treatment and residential relief counselor at the Parry Center for Children and Janus Youth Programs, respectively.

Karly earned her B.A. in psychology from the University of Oregon, her M.S. from Portland State University’s Dual Inclusion Teaching Program, and her professional administrative license from Concordia University.

Please join me in congratulating Karly Lefferts on being named interim principal of the Portland DART School.

Cordially,

Dr. Jon Franco
Chief of Schools

Portland Public Schools

https://www.pps.net/

Portland Public Schools aspires to graduate compassionate, critical thinkers who are able to collaborate to solve problems, and lead a more socially-just world. Central to this goal is affirming and operationalizing our deeply held community value of racial equity, social justice and inclusion.