Principal Mark West Leaves Bloomingdale To Head Armwood High

When students, teachers, coaches and staff return to Armwood High after the winter break, Mark West will be in charge, as the newly named principal of the 28-year-old school off U.S. Highway 92 in Seffner.

West left the same post at Bloomingdale High, where he served as the 25-year-old school's third principal, after Charley Harris and B.J. Stetler.

Armwood opened in September 1984, brining much-needed relief to Brandon High School, which at the time was toying with triple sessions to relieve a burgeoning student enrollment.

The school opened with Lyle Flagg, who came from Brandon to serve as Armwood's charter principal. The football field is named in his honor. Other past Armwood principals include Evelyn Hughes and Doug Erwin.

Armwood's outgoing principal is Michael Ippolito, who returns to Tampa Bay Technical High School, where he previously worked as a teacher (1990 to 2004) and assistant principal for administration and assistant principal for curriculum (2004 to 2010).

Ippolito on Nov. 26 returned to Tampa Bay Tech to start his job as principal there. The former principal, Scott Brooks, left Tampa Bay Tech to start his job as the school district's general director for career, technical and adult education, according to a TBO.com report.

A new principal for Bloomingdale High is expected to be named by the Hillsborough County School Board at a meeting in January.

According to a report at Bloomingdale Patch, West was Bloomingdale's physics and chemistry teacher when the school first opened in 1987. He continued teaching at Bloomingdale until 1992, when he was transferred to the then-Middleton Middle School as a department head and later as assistant principal.

He went on to serve as principal of Turkey Creek Middle School before returning to Bloomingdale in 2005 as principal.