Windhoek International School announces the July 2025 departure of Primary Principal Marcelle van Leenen and the appointment of Ms Jenna Brown to the position of Interim Primary Principal for 2025-26 School Year
Dear WIS Community,
I am writing to share that I have accepted the position of Primary Principal for Keystone Academy in Beijing, starting in August 2025. This school year will therefore be my final one at WIS. My decision to conclude my chapter as Primary School Principal at WIS comes with mixed emotions. My time at WIS has been transformative, both professionally and personally.
I have had the privilege of working alongside an exceptional team of educators whose dedication to our students' growth and learning has inspired me daily. The decision to accept a new position in Beijing and return to China was not made lightly. However, as many of us in international education understand, our professional journeys often call us to embrace new challenges and opportunities for growth, even when it means leaving behind communities we have come to cherish.
As I prepare for this transition, I am confident in the strong foundation we have built together and the continued success that lies ahead for WIS. The leadership team remains committed to ensuring a smooth transition that will maintain the high standards of education and care that our community expects and deserves.
Thank you for your support. It has been an honour to serve this remarkable community!
Sincerely,
Marcelle van Leenen
Primary Principal
__________________________________________________
Dear WIS Community,
As you’ve read in the message above, our Primary Principal Ms Marcelle van Leenen has accepted a position at Keystone Academy and will depart from WIS at the end of this academic year. I am profoundly grateful for the transformational impact that Ms Marcelle has had on teaching and learning at WIS since her arrival at our school in August 2021.
Under Marcelle’s leadership, our learners have demonstrated remarkable growth in academic achievement. As measured by MAP results, WIS Primary students have consistently outperformed the growth of their global peers. In 2021 we were achieving significantly below global averages of independent schools in Reading, Language Usage, and Mathematics. With Marcelle’s leadership, our learners have demonstrated remarkable growth and our school averages are now between 15 to 20 percentiles better, across the board. Marcelle has built up student leadership and has articulated a sensible balance of direct instruction and open inquiry.
Marcelle’s focus on building collegiality and collective teacher efficacy has taken root across the Primary School, and the impact on our school has been transformational. She has empowered others to share teaching strategies and to take on leadership roles, and this will ensure that the growth we have seen over these past 3.5 years will continue even after her departure from WIS in June.
In Jim Collin’s book “From Good to Great”, he coined the term ‘the flywheel effect’ to describe the exponential growth that occurs when small wins accumulate over time. Each turn of a flywheel builds upon work done earlier, and when this momentum continues in the same direction then we begin to realise exponential returns on our collective efforts.
Ms Jenna Brown Appointed as Interim Primary Principal for 2025-26
It is the flywheel effect and the palpable sense of positive growth and momentum we are experiencing in the Primary School that makes me therefore delighted to share that Ms Jenna Brown, our current Primary Years Programme (PYP) Coordinator, will be serving as Interim Primary Principal for the 2025-26 School Year.
Ms Jenna will bring a wealth of experience to this role, with 18 years in education across four countries and two continents. As the school’s PYP Coordinator and Primary Literacy Coordinator, Ms Jenna has worked hand-in-hand with Ms Marcelle to lead our Primary School’s approach to literacy, numeracy, and our PYP Units of Inquiry. ‘WIS kids’ have fun while they learn, and it is Ms Jenna’s organisation and clear communication which provides the structure that is necessary for inquiry-driven learning to be both engaging and effective.
To this position, Ms Jenna will bring a global perspective coupled with a deep connection to this part of the world. Over the years, she has served as a PYP Coordinator, Literacy Coordinator, Subject Head, Grade Head, and Phase Head. Since her arrival at WIS in August of 2022, I have come to know Ms Jenna as a capable educator and a calm leader. She has the great respect of the Primary School’s teachers and Educational Assistants, and as an effective communicator she holds great rapport with our Primary students and their parents.
The recruiting process for a permanent WIS Primary Principal will take place in September and October of 2025. This timeline allows the hiring process to be spacious enough to include input from key stakeholders, and will take place at the point in the international school world’s annual hiring cycle where we are able to attract the greatest number of highest quality applications. The appointment for Ms Marcelle’s permanent Primary Principal successor will then be from August 2026.
Over the span of this coming semester, I know that you will join me in thanking Ms Marcelle van Leenen for her remarkable service to our school, while sharing appreciation to Ms Jenna Brown as she prepares to take on this new appointment.
Ethan Van Drunen
Educational Director
Commentaires