Melinda K. Reeves

Principal
Decatur High School
Decatur, Texas
M.A. in Elementary Education
Texas Christian University

Melinda Reeves, an educator with 18 years of school administration experience, has been Principal at Decatur High School (DHS) for the past nine years. She was awarded a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education in 1974 from Texas Christian University (TCU) and a Master of Art in Elementary Education in 1982, also from TCU. She received mid-management certification in 1984.

Reeves has extensive credentials in Reading and Special Education. She and her staff transformed DHS from the Texas Education Agency rating of “low-performing” to “exemplary” and captured the coveted National Blue Ribbon Award. For her efforts, Reeves was honored as Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Secondary Principal of the Year as well as being honored as one of the top three principals in the nation.

Reeves has been a featured presenter at the National Drop-out Conference, National Association of Secondary School Principals conferences, The Children and Rural Education Conference, Best Practices Conference for Texas Schools In Need of Improvement, and numerous other conferences. She has submitted and presented papers relating to teacher recruitment and retention in rural schools as well as the effects of light barriers on reading success.

Melinda Reeves is viewed by her staff as a visionary leader who is not afraid to take chances in order to improve student achievement.

Cynthia A. Rudrud

Principal (retired)
Raymond S. Kellis High School
Glendale, Arizona
M.A. in English Education
Northern Arizona University

Cindy Rudrud is principal of Raymond S. Kellis High School in the Peoria Unified School District in Arizona, the sixth high school in the district, which opened in August, 2004 with a freshman class. She has served her district as a planning principal for the new school and a district supervisor providing support to her colleagues. She also was principal of Cactus High School, Peoria Unifed, from 1993 - 2003.

Cindy came to the principalship in 1989 from a background in staff development and teaching English. Mrs. Rudrud was the 2004 President of the National Association of Secondary School Principals and has served as President - elect of NASSP, a member of the Council of the International Confederation of Principals, a member of the National Honor Society National Committee and Scholarship Board, the NASSP Board of Directors, and was 1998 Arizona MetLife State Principal of the Year. She is currently a member of the Arizona Department of Education High School Renewal and Improvement State Team.