WEBSTER GROVES — The school district here has tapped a new superintendent — and she's a familiar face.
Webster Groves Board of Education hired Jana Parker, a former district parent and St. Louis-area administrator, to lead the district after the retirement of John Simpson at the end of the 2024-2025 school year.
Parker comes to Webster Groves from Highline Public Schools in Washington state, where she serves as executive director of curriculum and instruction.
The same district employed St. Louis Public Schools Interim Superintendent Millicent Borishade as "principal special assignment" until July 2022. Parker started there the same month Borishade left, her LinkedIn shows.
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Before her move to Washington, Parker held various roles at St. Louis-area schools and districts. She was a deputy superintendent of instructional services for the Ferguson-Florissant School District from 2020 to July 2022, director of innovation and learning for the Lindbergh School District from 2018 to 2020, as well as assistant principal at Parkway School District's Central Middle School and a social studies teacher in the Francis Howell School District, among other roles.
Webster Groves will be Parker's first superintendency.
"Returning to Webster Groves feels like coming full circle — from experiencing the transformative power of this district as a parent to now leading it forward," Parker said in a message to teachers and staff on Thursday. "Having worked in diverse districts across Missouri and Washington state, I recognize that Webster Groves' unique combination of academic rigor, innovation and community spirit is both extraordinary and rare."
Webster Groves' search for Simpson's replacement was assisted by the Missouri School Board Association. Board of Education President Todd Allen said at a board meeting Dec. 12 that Webster had a deep pool of candidates to choose from and performed final interviews the week of Dec. 19.
Parker stood out because of her vision for academics at Webster and "commitment to our values," Allen said in the announcement of Parker's hire. She lived in Webster Groves for "several years," according to the message to staff, and her son attended Avery Elementary and Steger 6th Grade Center.
Simpson's impending retirement is one of several superintendent departures in the St. Louis-region.
Parkway's and Kirkwood's superintendents will also retire at the end of this school year. Francis Howell Superintendent Kenneth Roumpos will depart the St. Charles County district for Kirkwood in July. At the Fort Zumwalt School District, Paul Myers will retire and be replaced by his deputy, Henry St. Pierre.
In September, the St. Louis Board of Education voted unanimously to terminate Superintendent Keisha Scarlett’s contract for cause after one year in the role. In December, Scarlett's replacement and former deputy, Borishade, received a two-year job guarantee on the same day she was cited in an audit for questionable credit card spending.
