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School Board Names Steinbrenner Principal

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By COURTNEY CAIRNS PASTOR

cpastor@tampatrib.com

Published: December 17, 2008

NORTHDALE - Gaither students who transfer to the new Steinbrenner High in August will see a familiar face in the principal's office.

Principal Brenda Grasso will move to the top job at the Lutz high school, now under construction. Steinbrenner is expected to draw heavily from crowded Gaither, as well as Sickles and Freedom.

The Hillsborough County school board approved the move for Grasso on Dec. 9, but it will not take effect until April 5.

Grasso's appointment is among three principal changes at area schools.

Leto Principal David Brown will also open a new school, Strawberry Crest in Plant City. And Michael Miranda, principal at Davidsen Middle, is taking over at Progress Village Middle Magnet School because its current principal took a district position.

Miranda's new job starts Jan. 5. Brown will not move to Strawberry Crest until April. Replacements for Grasso, Miranda and Brown have not been set.

Of the three, Grasso has had the longest tenure in northwestern Hillsborough. She started as Gaither's assistant principal in 1997 and was promoted to principal in 2003 when Ken Adum became an area director.

She began her Hillsborough County career in 1982, when she taught English at Eisenhower Junior High. Prior to that, she taught at private schools in Tampa from 1973 to 1981 as well as at Fayetteville High School in Georgia from 1978 to 1979.

Brown had been Leto's assistant principal for two years before his promotion in 2006, taking over for Dan Bonilla when Bonilla moved to Jefferson. Brown has spent his career in Hillsborough County high schools, starting as a teacher in 1991 at Bloomingdale. He also taught at East Bay and served as an assistant principal at East Bay and Freedom before coming to Leto.

Miranda took over Davidsen in 2006 from Rebecca Kaskeski, who had opened the school. He is returning to Progress Village, where he was assistant principal for six years. He started his career in Hillsborough County teaching at Tomlin Middle in 1991. He has also taught at Stewart Middle Magnet and Wilson Middle.

Reporter Courtney Cairns Pastor can be reached at (813) 865-1503.

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