Windermere High gets new assistant principals for upcoming school year

Windermere High students will see some new faces in the administration office when the school year begins.

Nancy Murchison, Taylor Plumblee and Adele Salazar are the school’s new assistant principals. 

“We’re here for anyone who walks through the door,” Murchison said.

Murchison is from East Lansing, Michigan, and has a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Michigan State University. She also obtained a master’s degree in sociology with the University of Central Florida, completed a specialist in education with Stetson University and has worked in Orange County Public Schools for many years.

“I’ve been with OCPS for the last 20 years,” Murchison said. “I’ve been (working) outside of the classroom mostly with being a S.AF.E  coordinator and academic dean and disciplinary dean.”

Throughout her career with OCPS, Murchison has worked at Walker Middle, Blankner K-8, Westridge Middle School, Timber Creek High School and Princeton Elementary School. She said she looks forward to working with the students once the school year begins.

“I’m really looking forward to working with as many students as I can,” Murchison said. “I’m looking forward to meeting a lot of different students and working with them and seeing them grow individually and working with the parents. I’m a really big ... proponent of students being healthy — both emotionally and mentally. It’s basically my background. I really would like to see them thrive.”

Murchison added one of her goals for her first year and Windermere High is to make sure each student succeeds.

“I’m here to make sure that they have the resources available (and) the support that they need,” she said. “The goal is to make sure that every student is successful … and make sure that they graduate.”

Born and raised in Orlando, Plumblee said she’s a multi-generational Floridian.

“I went to Boone High School, and after graduating, I went to school out of state in North Carolina at Salem College,” Plumblee said. “I got my master’s from the University of West Florida, and I’m working on my doctorate right now at Northeastern University in Boston.”

Plumblee started her educational career as an elementary teacher but later discovered her passion for working with high school students. She has worked with high school students since 2012.

Prior to Windermere High, Plumblee has worked at Oak Ridge, Winter Park and Colonial hgh schools. 

“I’m most excited to feel the energy of the campus once it’s really full (of students),” Plumblee said. “The first senior class I think is going to bring a lot of excitement.”

Like Murchison, Plumblee said one of her goals for her first year and Windermere High is to make sure students graduate.

“One of my major goals would be helping students — our seniors especially — prepare for college and careers after they graduate (by) making sure that they have a plan in place and then doing  everything I can to support them in achieving those goals,” she said.

Born and raised in New York City, Salazar is a lifelong educator with nearly 40 years of experience. She said she knew she wanted to be a teacher since the second grade.

She has studied at Stony Brook University, Columbia University, The Inter-American University in Puerto Rico-San German Campus and at Universidad de Alcala in Alcala, Spain. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in education, master’s degree in education with a minor in math and science at Hunter College, and a specialist degree in education with Nova Southeastern University.

“I always knew that (teaching) was my goal,” Salazar said. “My philosophy is given the right tools, all children can be successful; all learners can be successful.”

Salazar spent 11 years working in New York, 15 years working in nearby Osceola County and 13 years working in Orange County. In Orange County, she’s worked at Meadow Woods Elementary, Cypress Creek and Lake Nona high schools. 

“(I look forward to) meeting my students, meeting my personnel, meeting the parents and looking at what they’re bringing to the table and what I have to offer,” Salazar said. 

She added her other goal this school year is to build rapport with the community because she’s new to the area.