South Middle School

   Mrs. Jackie Hottelman has been appointed the new principal at Fort Zumwalt South Middle School, effective July 1, 2022. Hottelman returns to South Middle, where she taught 6th-grade math, after serving the past six years as assistant principal and then principal at Dardenne Elementary. 
   “I spent most of my teaching career with this age group and am looking forward to this new stage of my work with Fort Zumwalt. This change, of course, means leaving a community I have come to cherish,” she wrote in a letter to Dardenne staff and families.
   Hottelman has already met with staff at South Middle to introduce herself and looks forward to getting to know students and families better. 
   “I'd like to focus on getting to know everyone in the school community (staff, students, families),” she says. “My goal is to be present in the building, visiting classrooms, and checking in with staff and students to see how I can support them”
   Hottelman works to model life-long learning. She is currently focused on how to best support educators so they are able to support students be successful. As a math teacher she is seeking to better support students when they just don't understand the first presentation of concepts. “I LOVE watching students have 'lightbulb' moments where they understand skills and see how to connect them to the real world,” she says.
   When not at school, Hottelman is busy with three children of her own, or spending time “with friends who are like family. Usually we are outdoors, camping, running, just being active.”