Thompson pegged to lead Swallow

The Swallow School Board tapped Waukesha West High School principal Melissa Thompson to be the school’s next superintendent.

Thompson will replace outgoing administrator Jeff Klaisner after serving at Waukesha West for three years.

"She has such a great district perspective," said Swallow School Board President Karen Trimble. "She’s very strategic. She’s a planner. She has just all of the qualities that the board was really looking for in advancing the school from good to great."

Trimble said that the Board liked Thompson’s legal and policy background, something she said the other finalists for the position did not have.

Said Trimble, "She’s got her Ph.D. She’s made some great changes at West with her collaboration with her team there. West is now a national school that people are coming to look at for grading. They made some big grading changes that she was able to implement the first year that she was there."

The Board president said she anticipated having Thompson in place for the July 19 Swallow School Board meeting. The School Board approved Thompson as the superintendent at a July 6 meeting, but she cannot officially take the position until the Waukesha School District formally approves her resignation from West.

"We’re very excited about the future. Swallow is such a great school and it’s such a family. We took a lot of time, going through interviewing candidates and bringing them back three different times," said Trimble, who along with other School Board members, spoke to more than 20 references to learn about Thompson’s background. "We took that responsibility very seriously and did a lot of due diligence to verify candidates, and she came out on top."