District Welcomes Three New Assistant Principals

The beginning of a new school year also comes with new faces. Three Carroll ISD campuses welcome new assistant principals to their staff for the upcoming school year. Mary Grice, Steven Silvia, and Christina Benhoff are the new assistant principals at Eubanks Intermediate, Durham Intermediate, and Walnut Grove Elementary, respectively.

Joining the administration at Eubanks Intermediate is the new Assistant Principal Mary Grice.  She is not new to the Dragon family as she has spent the last nine years teaching fourth grade math and science at Old Union Elementary School. Grice grew up in Houston and attended Texas A&M as “a proud Aggie and football fan long before Johnny Football.” In her free time, Grice enjoys going to the movies, reading on her Kindle, running and coming home two her to Havanese dogs, Piper and Murphy.

“Parents, students, and educators together make a powerful team for student success,” Grice said.

She comes from a family of educators and truly feels that education is a calling to serve others. Her mom is a retired first grade teacher, her brother teaches high school English, and her sister-in-law teaches government and economics.  Growing up, Grice especially enjoyed math, science and dance classes. She has many fond memories of her time in the fifth and sixth grade, at the same age of the students she will soon be leading at Eubanks. From emceeing her fifth grade talent show to skipping recess every Friday to read to her mom’s first grade class, education has been influential in Grice’s life for many years.

Durham Intermediate’s administration team will also be joined by new Assistant Principal Steven Silvia. He spent the last three years in Carroll as a 7^th grade history teacher and Dragon coach at Dawson Middle. Silvia grew up in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi, but graduated from Richland High School in 1991, where he met his wife Jennifer. They have been married for 19 years and have two daughters, Reagan and Skylar, who attend Fort Worth Christian School. His wife Jennifer also serves as the Director of Communications at Fort Worth Christian. Silvia’s hobbies include working out and training, running in obstacle/mud runs with friends, and taking rides on his Harley.

“For me learning is fun, especially when I am able to share it with others,” Silvia said.

He said education is a foundational piece of life, being one of the first in his family to pursue higher education.

Silvia hopes to continue to “Protect the Tradition” in this new leadership opportunity in the Southlake community.

Christina Benhoff is the new Assistant Principal at Walnut Grove Elementary School. She is transitioning from Carroll Middle School where she taught 7^th grade math and coached volleyball, basketball and track. Benhoff has lived and worked in many different places in the country before moving to Texas. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, she also lived in Philadelphia, Pa. before moving to the St. Louis area where she finished her schooling. Benhoff graduated from Southern Illinois University with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, and earned her master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis from the University of Missouri. She enjoys reading, shopping, and anything sports related. She and her husband are big fans of the St. Louis Cardinals, and were even married on home plate at Busch Stadium.

“I am extremely excited to continue working in Carroll because I have had the opportunity to work in different school throughout the country and have never seen a community who is so involved in their child’s education,” Benhoff said. “The partnership between parents and schools are essential for a child’s success.”