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School Turnaround Principal of the Year

Vicki Stangle, principal of Winter Haven's Lake Shipp Elementary in Polk County, was recently named national Principal of the Year by the School Turnaround organization.

School Turnaround is a New York-based leadership development initiative that helps principals immediately improve academic achievement. School Turnaround presented a $5,000 check to Lake Shipp as a result of Stangle winning the award.

School Turnaround awarded Stangle with the honor based on the school's improvement from the 2004-2005 to 2005-2006 school years. Stangle became the school's principal starting in August 2005. Lake Shipp is designated by the federal government as a Title I school for having a large percentage of students coming from economically disadvantaged homes.