The promotion of Cochrane High principal Ed Polhill has led to a series of leadership changes at Cochrane schools.

Yesterday, Rocky View Schools (RVS) announced Polhill has been named director of learning services for the school division. Concurrently, Anne Kromm has been named principal of Cochrane High and Mary Magee has been named acting principal of the Manachaban School.

RVS calls Polhill a well-respected leader known for his ability to develop strong foundational relationships.

“Ed stood out for this directorship because of his demonstrable leadership qualities, commitment to building staff efficacy and ability to bring about wide-scale change,” says Greg Luterbach, RVS superintendent of schools. “His transition comes at an opportune time, given RVS is preparing to launch year one of its new four-year plan. I am confident that Ed will ensure that the good work already underway continues and that RVS moves forward with its implementation of a comprehensive professional learning plan that supports the learning needs of all staff.”

Polhill’s tenure with RVS dates back to 2001 when he joined Bow Valley High as a teacher. He went on to serve as the school’s outdoor education coordinator and athletic director before being appointed assistant principal of Springbank Community High School in 2009.

Three years later, Polhill accepted his first principalship at George McDougall High School. In 2015, he was appointed principal of Cochrane High.

Manachaban Middle School principal Anne Kromm has been named principal of Cochrane High She brings 27 years experience to the role, having served as a teacher, assistant principal and principal in the division. She was named assistant principal at Cochrane High in 2013 and has been principal at Manachaban since 2017.

Kromm has earned a reputation for building school cultures where parents, community and staff work together to ensure students achieve their potential.

Mary Magee is a veteran educator in RVS and is known for championing physical literacy as well as literacy and numeracy, emergent technology and alternative programming that takes learning outside of the classroom. She's also known for promoting environmental stewardship.

Magee moves to Manachaban from Mitford School, where she has been assistant principal since 2017.  A valued member of RVS since 1999, she was previously assistant principal at Bragg Creek's Banded Peak School and taught at Springbank Middle School.