Dr. Carla Spaniel 
Principal

Dr. Carla Adelina Spaniel was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and spent most of her childhood in Oklahoma.  She attended Connors State College for her associate degree. In 1989, she graduated from Oklahoma State University with her bachelor's degree in Special Education and moved to Dallas, Texas, to begin a teaching career in the Dallas Independent School District.  She taught special education for four and a half years.  She attained her Masters of Educational Administration from Texas A&M Commerce.  Her campus experience began in the spring in 1994 when she became an assistant principal for two years.  After completing her superintendent's internship with the DISD in 1997, she moved to El Paso, Texas, where she was named principal of Nolan Richardson Middle School.  After two years in El Paso, she returned to Dallas as principal of an elementary and then promoted to a high school.  In 2002, she moved to New Mexico and was a full-time doctoral student at New Mexico State University for two years.  While at New Mexico State, she was a graduate assistant and taught four sections of Introduction to Education classes.  While conducting her research for her dissertation, she was a principal at Hamilton Middle School in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  She relocated to Fort Worth in the fall of 2006, where she was named principal at J.P. Elder Middle School.  In May 2008, she defended her dissertation and received a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a Major in Critical Pedagogies and a Minor in Learning Technology.

As an instructional leader within a school, Dr. Spaniel has five expectations for her staff:
1.  Be prepared daily to teach meaningful and engaging lessons.
2.  Be on time and prepared for the day.
3.  Be professional in appearance, behavior, and communciation.
4.  Do what is best for all the students in your classroom.
5.  Have Fun! 

Mr. Steven Blostein
7th Grade Assistant Principal 

Mr.  Blostein has been an assistant principal at J. P. Elder since the 1993-94 school year.  He has been with the Fort Worth Independent School District for over twenty years, starting as the Program Coordinator for an ESL program for adult refugees.  Mr. Blostein’s service with FWISD also includes being an Pre-Employment Teacher/Job Developer for the Fort Worth Skills Center to teach those skills needed in the job market and being a Drug Education Specialist with the Drug Free School Program in order to assist schools in maintaining a safe and drug-free environment.  He also taught ESL in both Japan and Korea for six years. 

Mrs. Karen Brown
6th Grade Assistant Principal

Mrs. Brown has worked for the Fort Worth Independent School District for fifteen years.  She graduated from Salisbury State University in 1994 with a bachelors degree in Education.  Mrs. Brown was recruited to teach Math and Science in FWISD.  Mrs. Brown continued her education at TCU and received her Masters in Administration.  She has been an administrator for the last seven years at the elementary and middle school levels.