With the 2025-26 school year having started on Aug. 11 for all Hillsborough County students, Pride Elementary has a new principal who has taken the helm after the retirement of former principal Paulette English.
Kirsten Meyer says it feels like “coming full circle” for her, after starting her career as a second grade teacher at Hunter’s Green Elementary (HGE) in 1998.
In fact, two teachers who are now part of the staff at Pride — Julia McKernan and Lucy Kovach — were once her students at HGE.
“It’s nice to see the growth in the community and see the love and passion that teachers have for their kids,” Meyer says. “There’s an energetic feeling and a love for learning at all of the schools in this area.”
Most recently, Meyer was assistant principal at Mitchell Elementary in South Tampa, where she served for two years. Prior to that, she was the assistant principal at Foster Elementary off of 22nd St. in North Tampa.
At Pride, she leads one of the largest schools in Hillsborough County — about 1,000 students.
“To be a first-time principal and have the responsibility to take on a school that is such a high-performing school is an honor,” Meyer says. “I know the expectation walking in. I know that I have to keep this going.”
In fact, Pride has never received any letter grade other than “A” from the State Dept. of Education in the 23 years it has received one since first opening for the 2001-02 school year.
Meyer says the staff and parents have been welcoming and supportive, and that she is excited to work with the “amazing” staff, including her experienced assistant principal, Heather Moncrief.
She says she recently learned that the school’s namesake, Dr. Richard Ford Pride, is the grandfather of Shaylia McRae, whom Meyer worked under when McRae was a regional superintendent for the county.
“It’s another personal connection,” Meyer says. “I have to live up to her namesake. This school has a tradition of high standards, so I want to make this community proud and make these teachers proud.”
Speaking a few days before school started, she said she couldn’t want for the students to come back and get the year under way.
“Pinch me,” she says. “It’s a dream come true. I couldn’t have wished for anything better.”
