Yorktown High School is getting a new principal after six and a half years.
Bridget Loft, formerly the Swanson Middle School principal, will be taking the helm at Yorktown from Principal Kevin Clark. She is returning to a position that she previously held from 2017 to January 2020, when Clark took over.
APS administrators did not say where Clark is going or why he is leaving. His name was not mentioned in a statement to families about Loft’s arrival yesterday (Thursday).
“Because this is a confidential personnel matter, APS cannot comment further on the circumstances surrounding this leadership change,” Christina Arpante, interim assistant superintendent of school and community relations, told ARLnow. “Our focus remains on supporting students, staff and families and ensuring a smooth and successful start to the school year under Ms. Loft’s leadership.”
Arpante said that School Board members approved the changes as part of their consent agenda last night (Thursday).
“Personnel actions on the consent agenda were approved as part of a single motion and were not discussed individually in public session,” she said.
Superintendent Francisco Durán described Loft as “widely respected for her collaborative leadership, commitment to excellence, and dedication to supporting the success of every student.”
“Ms. Bridget Loft brings more than 33 years of experience in public education and a proven record of instructional leadership, student-centered decision-making, and building strong school communities,” he said in the statement to families.
Taking office shortly before the pandemic upended public life in Arlington, Clark hit several speedbumps early in his tenure at Yorktown.
While navigating the shift to online school in spring 2020, Clark dealt with controversies around a school banner that some students saw as racist in May 2020, followed by a sexual misconduct incident reported at a Yorktown homecoming game in October 2021. Clark released letters to families about both events, apologizing for the former and harshly condemning the latter.
Clark, a University of Virginia grad, had previously worked as an assistant principal at Meridian High School, then known as George Mason High School, since 2014. He was also briefly an assistant principal at Gunston Middle School during the 2013-14 school year, according to his LinkedIn.
Clark’s teaching background is in mathematics. He taught algebra, geometry and BC calculus at Washington-Liberty (then Washington-Lee) High School for seven years before his administrative career, according to Yorktown’s student newspaper, the Yorktown Sentry.
Despite initial challenges at Yorktown, in a profile that the Sentry ran in April 2023, the principal described himself as happy in his position.
“I’ve been a principal now for three years, and I haven’t really gotten to the point yet where I’ve started considering any other opportunities,” Clark told that publication. “I’d like to do this for a while and be here for a while.”
Photo via APS/X
