Kia Coleman, community assistant principal at Anacostia Elementary and a third-year staff member at DC Prep PCS, said she will be the incoming principal at Benning Middle School.

“I love, love, love teaching students of all backgrounds, but specifically, specifically, in our Ward 8 community. This will be my first time leaving Ward 8 and will be joining our Ward 7 community,” Coleman said, adding she is “so looking forward to partnering with our families, our students, and the entire Benning community.”

Coleman told listeners she plans to continue and expand existing partnerships within the Benning community and emphasized academic rigor and staff strength as keys to improving student outcomes. “I know that our students will because we have the right teachers in front of them,” she said.

Addressing families directly, Coleman said, “To my BMC families at Benning, hey, get ready. We gonna buckle up, and we about to ride it out.” She added: “Get ready. We're gonna have some fun. There's gonna be some some joy. There's gonna be some learning. But overall, we are going to have greater outcomes.”

No formal start date, hiring vote or other administrative actions were mentioned in the remarks, and meeting records provided with this transcript do not specify a timeline for the transition.