District Leadership

As Superintendent of Schools, Dr. McGown oversees the daily operations and the long-range strategic planning of the school district, working directly with school leaders, district staff, and the school board in order to ensure: the advancement of the district vision and strategic framework; fiscal responsibility, including preparation and adoption of annual budget; development and implementation of policy; district management of day-to-day operations and decisions; quality stakeholder communication and public relations; and the development of student-focused performance goals.

The superintendent has administrative leadership and oversight of:

• Teaching & Learning
• Human Resource Services
• Finance & Budget
• Facilities & School Services
• Communications & Planning
• Chief of Police
• Internal Audit
• Research & Program Evaluation
  
  

Dr. McGown attended Texas A&M University as a Dwight D. Eisenhower Scholar and received her Master’s and Doctorate in Education from Sam Houston State University.

Klein ISD Superintendent, Dr. Jenny McGown, has deep roots in the Klein community serving a 54,000-student public school district in northwest Harris County. She is a dedicated leader who has also served Klein ISD in the roles of deputy superintendent, chief learning officer, executive director, principal, assistant principal, and classroom teacher.

Leading the District in the roles of Chief Learning Officer and Deputy Superintendent, Dr. McGown had a pivotal focus in developing unique pathways for students to earn advanced degrees before high school graduation, including the Advanced Nursing Pathway and the first-in-the state Geospatial Engineering and Land Surveying Pathway. She also initiated Innovation Challenges that enable students to solve real-world problems creatively— earning state and national-level recognition for STEM education by JASON Learning—as well as KleinTalks, an annual celebration for students to speak about their passions. Under her guidance, Klein ISD earned a tremendous achievement by being named the Districts of Distinction - National District of the Year for 2021 by District Administration Magazine, a national publication, for a tradition of excellence and innovation.

Dr. McGown was recognized as one of the top 40 professionals under 40 across all sectors in the greater Houston area by the Houston Business Journal in 2017 and the Houston BizWoman Headliner in Education in 2018. In 2019, the American Association of University Women (AAUW) named her the Outstanding Woman in Education, then, she was named the Sam Houston State University Distinguished Educator of the Year for 2020, and just recently, she was named a 2020 National School Public Relations Association Superintendent to Watch. Dr. McGown serves on the Google for Education North America K-12 Advisory Board, the Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts Board, and the Northwest Assistance Ministries Board. In Klein ISD, she serves on the Board of Directors for the Klein Education Foundation. Additionally, Dr. McGown is a member of the Lone Star College Chancellor’s Advisory Council. Dr. McGown completed her undergraduate studies at Texas A&M University and received her Master’s and Doctorate in Education from Sam Houston State University.

Outside of professional life, Dr. McGown enjoys spending time with her husband, Brian, and two children, both Klein ISD students. She and her husband are members of Faithbridge Church, supporters of the Klein Education Foundation, and are involved in the work of Bridging for Tomorrow and Love 146.

• Athletics
• Campus Safety & Support
• Klein Police
• School Leadership & Principal Supervision

 

Larry is a graduate of the University of Houston and earned his master's degree in history and education from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville.

Larry Whitehead returns to Klein ISD as Interim Deputy Superintendent after retiring from the position in 2018. Larry has spent 45 years as an educator and 31 of those years in Klein ISD.

Larry became part of the Klein Family in 1977, as a teacher at Strack Intermediate. During his career in Klein ISD, Whitehead also served as a teacher and assistant principal at Kleb Intermediate, assistant principal at Klein Oak High School, and spent six years as principal at Doerre Intermediate.

After leaving Klein to become principal of Athens High School and serving as Athens ISD superintendent for seven years, Larry returned to the Klein ISD family as the Strack Intermediate principal. In 2007, he became principal at Klein High School and was honored as secondary principal of the year during his many years there. Larry was named Klein ISD Deputy Superintendent in 2016, retiring two years later.

Larry married his high school sweetheart, Joyce and they have two sons, Matthew and Andrew. Matthew Whitehead is a teacher and coach at Krimmel Intermediate. Andrew is an attorney in The Woodlands. Larry enjoys spending time with his grandson and following the Houston Astros.

Bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Sam Houston State University; Masters degree in Educational Leadership

Dayna Hernandez is a positive, innovative, and relationship-driven educational leader with 23 years of experience. She is a homegrown testament to the tradition of excellence and innovation in Klein ISD. Dayna is a proud alumni of the Klein schools, and has proudly served the school community in a variety of leadership capacities.

Inspired by the excellent teachers in her educational career, Dayna has made it her life’s work to harness the gifts of public speaking, establishing strong partnerships of trust, and commitment to serving others. As an educator, she has wholeheartedly poured these gifts into her career. Before serving the past four years as a Teaching and Learning Executive Director, who coaches and supports elementary educators across the district, Dayna began her career as a student teacher in Klein ISD. In 1999, she was selected by her principal and superintendent to lead her campus in a district collaborative cohort to design a model classroom for the 21st century, which shaped the strong technology integration we have today throughout Klein ISD classrooms. She was awarded the campus teacher of the year at Kuehnle Elementary in 2000. Her passion for researching, designing and delivering engaging experiences in the classroom led her into serving as a district technology trainer. Through many encouraging educators in Klein and a desire to impact students in a greater capacity, Dayna later served as an assistant principal at Krimmel Intermediate and Theiss Elementary. Her passion for serving students landed her as the principal at Brill Elementary, and founding principal of Mahaffey Elementary. Dayna was awarded Principal of the Year in 2016 by her colleagues in the district.

As a forever learner, Dayna has completed the Rice Education Entrepreneur Program to apply business theories to the public education setting. Additionally, she is currently working with the Holdsworth Center, in partnership with Klein ISD, to continue strengthening the district’s work on achieving excellent and equitable outcomes for students by impacting the quality of K-12 public education for all students through supporting and developing leaders in the district.

In her free time, Dayna enjoys spending time with her family and friends, exercising outdoors, and supporting her church, Champion Forest North Klein, as an active member and volunteer. Dayna’s family is deeply-rooted in Klein ISD, as her husband is a teacher and coach at Klein Oak High School, along with her parents and two adult sons as community members in Klein.

• Core Academics
• Language(s) Other Than English (LOTE)
• Digital Learning
• Multilingual
• College and Career Pathways
• Special Programs
• Data Services

 

Amy earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Sam Houston State University. Her bachelor’s degree is in history and secondary education and her master’s degree in educational leadership with a focus on curriculum and instruction.

Amy Miller serves as Klein ISD’s Chief Academic Officer and began her career in 1996. Over the course of her years of service in education, she has served in a variety of roles including a social studies teacher, instructional coach, and principal in a neighboring district. In 2016, Amy joined the Klein Forest High School administrative team and served on the district strategic planning committee. As the committee finalized Klein’s strategic plan and embraced reimagining learning, Amy was named Executive Director for Curriculum Design and Delivery in the fall of 2017 and joyfully served in this position until being named Chief Academic Officer in June 2020.

Amy is student focused and leads the Teaching and Learning department with a spirit of “we not me.” She is a dedicated Promise 2 Purpose investor focused on ensuring that promises are kept and student purposes are realized and attainable. As an instructional leader, Amy is a forever learner always seeking meaningful learning experiences for students.

In her personal time, Amy enjoys spending time with her husband, a high school football coach, and her four daughters. She also enjoys cooking, reading, and traveling.

• Facility & School Services
• Capital Projects
• Energy Maintenance
• Information Technology
• Nutrition & Food Services
• Plant Maintenance
• Plant Operations
• Safety
• Transportation

 

Robert has a Bachelors of Engineering from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and a Masters of Administrative Science from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Upon graduation from Vanderbilt University, Robert served in the United States Navy for six years as a surface warfare officer. His major tours included duty assignments as missile fire control officer on a guided missile destroyer and executive officer of Military Sealift Command Office - Port Canaveral supporting the early space shuttle missions.

After leaving the service, he began his 23 year career in facility management of educational institutions at The Service Master Company. He served in leadership capacities at the facility, district, region, and corporate levels. This culminated in his final position as vice president of operations for the Premier Education business unit specializing in public K-12 districts with enrollment in excess of 25,000 students. Robert also served as general manager of facilities for Houston Independent School District.

In July 2009, Robert became part of the Klein ISD family as associate superintendent.

Robert and his wife, Leslie, have three grown children and seven grandchildren. Their son, Josh, graduated from Klein Oak High School, and they currently have three grandchildren attending Klein ISD schools.

Dan graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Schreiner University.

Daniel Schaefer became Klein ISD’s Chief Financial Officer in September 2018. He was the former Chief Finance and Governmental Affairs Officer for Brazosport ISD. Mr. Schaefer has over 20 years of experience in public accounting and finance with over half of those years serving public school districts.

Prior to serving in public education, Mr. Schaefer spent ten years in public accounting performing audits and tax related services and became a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in 2000. Mr. Schaefer enjoys taking the “fear out of finance” by making information presented relevant and relatable to the audience.

Dan’s wife, Shannon, is a fitness instructor and manages the many activities of their children Kyle and Katy. Kyle is a finance major at Texas A&M University while Katy is a senior at Klein Collins and will attend Houston Baptist University in the fall of 2019.

Kelly holds a bachelor’s degree with a major in English and minors in Spanish and psychology from Sam Houston State University where she also earned her master’s degree in school administration.

Kelly Schumacher is a passionate educator with 23 years of experience in Klein ISD, with nine of those in central office roles supporting campuses and assisting, developing, and coaching school leaders. She is committed to changing systems and thoughtfully disrupting the status quo to improve educational experiences for all shareholders, but especially for students.

Kelly began her career in Klein ISD in 1995 as a high school English and Spanish teacher. She also taught 7th and 8th grade English and sponsored cheerleaders before becoming an assistant principal in 1999. Kelly was fortunate to serve as the principal of an intermediate school as they transitioned into a campus that received Title 1 funding. She was able to help provide additional resources, programs, and support for at-risk students and their families, which was one of the most rewarding experiences of her career. Kelly then served as a high school principal prior to working as an executive director of school administration for several years. During her tenure as principal, the campus was the first high school in the district to implement the 1:1 technology program.

After leaving public education in 2015 to do some consulting work, she joyfully returned to Klein three years ago as an executive director of teaching and learning. In this role, Kelly was extremely grateful to be able to invest in the promise and purpose of others as she served students and supported campuses in the awesome work of teaching and learning.

In her personal time, Kelly loves reading, running, traveling, shopping, and spending time with her family.

• Manages Klein ISD Police Department 
• Leads and supervises district police officers
• Performs traditional enforcement duties
• Promotes
  • Campus safety
  • Discipline
  • Prevention of drugs and violence
  • Education

Klein ISD Police Officers are really Police Officers. They are commissioned by the Board of Trustees of the District. The authority to commission police officers comes from the Texas Education Code under section 37.081. The Board of Trustees sets the jurisdiction and scope of duties for school district police. School District police are authorized to enforce all laws and may arrest individuals found in violation of those laws. Additionally, officers may write citations for appropriate offenses that are covered by State law including offenses listed in the Texas Education Code. These citations are filed with the appropriate Justice of the Peace.

Refer to the Police FAQs and Board Policy for more information.

Chief Kimberly holds a Master of Science Degree in Criminal Justice Leadership and Management from Sam Houston State University, a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from American Intercontinental University and an Associate of Arts in Business Administration from American Intercontinental University. In addition, he also holds a Master Peace Officer Certification and is a certified Texas Commission On Law Enforcement (TCOLE) Instructor.

Chief Kimberly has over 4200 TCOLE training hours. These hours include topics such as conducting Safety and Security Audits, Threat Assessment training, Active Shooter Response training, National Incident Management training, Technical Emergency Response Training (TERT) with live chemical agents, Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) and multiple Command Leadership courses.

Chief David Kimberly has served the citizens of Klein ISD as a district police officer since 1995. Prior to working for the Klein ISD Police Department, Chief Kimberly worked for the Montgomery County Constables Office Pct. 4. In his tenure with the Klein ISD Police Department, he has worked at all levels of the department including: Patrol Officer, Campus Officer, Sergeant, and Captain. He was promoted to the rank of Chief in February of 2014. His experience of working through the ranks of Klein ISD has contributed to the vast amount of expertise he brings to the day-to-day operations of the department.

Chief Kimberly serves as the president on the board of the Texas ISD Police Chiefs’ Association, president of the Houston Area Police Chiefs’ Association, and serves as a community partner with the Harris County Northwest Chamber of Commerce, Crime Stoppers of Houston, Mothers against Drunk Drivers (MADD), and the Boy Scouts of America Sam Houston Area Council.

"As a school district police administrator, I recognize the need for a school district police department to follow a philosophy that is integrated with the district’s core values and beliefs. A positive relationship between the community, school administration, and the police department is paramount to ensuring a safe and secure environment for the educational process. I believe that today’s school district police officer is safeguarding and assisting with the educational process of the community’s future.”