Sara Mayo will greet roughly 754 students as Wyandot Run Elementary's new principal when Olentangy schools open Aug. 20. It's her first lead principalship.

Mayo spent the past two years as the school's assistant principal and told the Delaware Gazette she is focused on preserving the family-centered culture that defines the Carriage Road campus. She plans to keep the building open to parents for lunch visits, lean on volunteers and maintain the PTO's role in everything from classroom parties to curriculum support.

"I just want people to continue to feel supported and welcomed," Mayo said. "Our PTO is huge in our building. … It creates a well-oiled machine when you have the community involved."

Before joining Wyandot Run, Mayo spent seven years teaching fourth grade in Indiana, then worked as an intervention specialist in another Ohio district. She said the jump to administration surprised even her. She always wanted a career in education but never pictured herself as a principal, crediting her own elementary school principal as the person who set her on the path.

Mayo acknowledged early nerves when she first accepted the assistant principal job, saying she didn't know what she didn't know until she was in it. Two years later, she said the Olentangy community erased any sense of isolation she had been warned about. She described the district as tight-knit despite its size, telling the Gazette she always had someone to lean on and never felt the loneliness other administrators had cautioned her about.

She starts Thursday.

The appointment continues a wave of new leadership across Olentangy elementary schools this fall. As we reported Aug. 16, Heidi Leeds also stepped into her first principalship at Cheshire Elementary, and Krista Keipper was named assistant principal at Carlisle and Conger earlier this month.

Wyandot Run Elementary is at 2800 Carriage Road in Powell and serves students in pre-K through fifth grade. Families can check the full school calendar, including Open House and Curriculum Night dates, at wres.olentangy.k12.oh.us.