Supai Middle School
To Welcome New Principal

Daniel (Dan) A. Cooper, an elementary school principal from the Murphy School District in Phoenix, will become principal of Scottsdale's Supai Middle School on July 1. The Governing Board approved his appointment on May 7. Mr. Cooper replaces Diane Wells, who is resigning to take a principal post in Chandler and be closer to home.

"I began my career in the Scottsdale Unified School District 19 years ago as a teacher at Coronado High School," Mrs. Wells wrote in her letter of resignation. "The Scottsdale Unified School District has been a very significant part of my life and my family's life for many years," she wrote. "At this point in my life, I have decided that it is a priority to be in a position where I will be closer to home."

Mrs. Wells has been principal at Supai for the past three years.

Mr. Cooper will step into the post at Supai from the Alfred F. Garcia Elementary School in Phoenix, where he has been principal for two years. Prior to that, Mr. Cooper was an assistant principal for four years at the Jack L. Kuban Elementary School in Phoenix. In addition, Mr. Cooper has teaching experience in reading and in science at the middle school level, and as a classroom teacher for fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. He was a teacher at the Art Hamilton Elementary School in Phoenix, as well as in the Casa Grande Elementary School District.

Mr. Cooper has a master's degree in education administration and a bachelor of arts degree in elementary education from Arizona State University (ASU). He also was selected to participate in a specially-designed program to prepare principals of urban and rural schools to move into the 21st century. Mr. Cooper completed this special two-year program at ASU in 1994.

Taking the helm at Supai on July 1, however, will not be Mr. Cooper's first experience with Scottsdale Unified School District. He notes that he attended Navajo Elementary School as a kindergartener and first grader.

Supai Middle School opened in the fall of 1959 as a K-8 facility, but was converted in the fall of 1981 to a middle school for seventh- and eighth-graders. Ground was broken last November for a replacement school on the existing campus, using 1997 bond offset monies. Completion of the new campus buildings is scheduled for August.
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The Scottsdale Unified School District has 33 schools serving 27,025 students. More than 3,000 persons are employed by the district, including 1,829 teachers. The district celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1996. Its boundaries include most, but not all of the city of Scottsdale, almost all of the town of Paradise Valley, a section of the city of Phoenix, and a section of the city of Tempe.