Q&A with National Middle Level Principal of the Year Damon Lewis

September 15, 2025

When accepting the award as the 2025 National Middle Level Principal of the Year, Damon Lewis, Ed.D., said his goal was never to be “the best principal,” but simply to do “the best job I could for my kids, the families, and the community I serve.” The award, presented by the National Association of Secondary School Principals, notes that under Lewis’ leadership, Ponus Ridge STEAM Academy in Norwalk, Connecticut, had dramatically reduced chronic absenteeism (from 31% to 8% in one year), increased the number of Hispanic and Black students in the gifted and talented program and the number of female students in accelerated math, and embraced an equity-driven culture where PSAT scores for grade eight students outpaced national, state, and district metrics. 

The buzz around Ponus Ridge STEAM has spread through Norwalk Public Schools. “We get kids from 10 of the 11 elementary schools,” says Lewis, noting that the school had to cap sixth and seventh-grade enrollment before the start of the fall semester.

“We don’t have any more room.” 

This enthusiasm wasn’t always the case for the 670-student school, where students of color make up 90% of current enrollment, 61% are eligible for free and reduced lunch, and 25% are English learners.

Lewis started his career nearly 30 years ago as a paraeducator, later earning two master’s degrees and a doctorate. Today, in addition to leading Ponus Ridge, he also serves as the facilitator for the Black Male Administrator cohort in the district and mentors younger principals. He told ASBJ Senior Editor Michelle Healy that he sees himself in “the business of saving lives. I want to provide kids with opportunities that they wouldn’t normally have. I want to provide students of color with opportunities that they wouldn’t normally have and change their life trajectory.”

You’ve served as Ponus Ridge principal since 2015, after four years as assistant principal. What do you like about leading a middle school?  
Everything. I’m a huge fan of the teaching and learning process, but specifically in these middle years, because the kids change in so many different ways: academically, developmentally, emotionally. We’re sixth through eighth grade, so we get them for three years; that’s 30 months to really see that growth. In some cases, it’s kids who come into sixth grade, maybe performing below grade level, but by the time they’re promoted in eighth grade, they’re exceeding grade level standards. During these formative years, they want their autonomy, but they still want you to hold their hand. They want freedom, but they still want to know when to go to lunch. They want all these responsibilities, but they’re not quite yet ready to handle them. We’re here to be that buffer and liaison on the way to autonomy and freedom. 

Why did Ponus Ridge switch to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) in 2019? 
We were looking to expose our students to more classes and programs for future jobs, quite honestly, that haven’t been created yet. So, we took on this curriculum and transformed into a STEAM school. The decision came with a lot of focus groups, questionnaires, feedback forms, meetings with staff, community members, and Central Office. I’m a big proponent of equity and identifying disproportionality, and I always want to provide students with opportunities they may not have elsewhere. 

What are some of your course offerings?
Robotics, computer science, music technology, immersive media, and digital literacy are all offered as electives. In our Tier 1 classrooms, we’re embedding project-based learning, experiential learning, and hands-on experiences that our kids can use, again, in jobs that haven’t been created yet. Instituting the curriculum required a shift in mindset, a shift in how we shape and write curricula, but our school and staff jumped on board. 

How do you help all students succeed in the curriculum?
All of our students are exposed to rigorous Tier 1 instruction, regardless of whether they’re in a Tier 1 class or receiving Tier 2 interventions. One of the things that we do differently is emphasize accelerating and intervening simultaneously. We accelerate and enrich the students who need to be enriched and accelerated, but simultaneously, our teachers are trained and they’re good enough to also provide in-class, in-the-moment interventions for students who may be performing below grade level at that moment, who aren’t reaching proficiency yet. ‘Yet’ is a big term in our building. ‘He’s not there yet, but he’ll get there.’

What’s worked in terms of engaging students, families, and the community?
For students, we offer 20 or 25 after-school clubs. We call it Ponus After 2:50 because our day ends at 2:50. We have everything from, obviously, a STEAM club, to a Lego Robotics club, a video game club, a rock band club, a debate club, and a creative writing club, to name a few. Another program is Walk Through Wednesdays, held on the first Wednesday of the month. From 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., we open the school to families, community members, and students who want to come in for a walking and talking tour with the administrative team. We offer the tours during the school day because I want people to see us in real time with our students working in groups, and teachers as facilitators of knowledge, not disseminators. Our Hispanic Parent Group meets every month in the evening. About 68% of our student enrollment is Hispanic. We serve food, have guest speakers, and meetings facilitated all in Spanish. Last year, we brought in immigration attorneys, among others. We have counseling services in the building for newcomer MLL (Multilingual language) families, and an in-house food pantry.   

Your most recent chronic absenteeism rate continues to decline, from 8.3% to 7.7%. How did you get there? 
It is a linear approach that starts in homeroom and the school, to knocking on doors and home visits. Anytime any student is absent two consecutive days, it’s the homeroom teacher’s job to email that family and or that student and ask, “How are you? What do you need?” Our attendance team meets every week, working with the grade-level counselors and the Dean of Students to determine follow-up if needed, including home visits. In my end-of-week update sent to all families, I always emphasize the importance of regular attendance and that we will contact DCF (Department of Children and Families) or outside agencies if families don’t get their children to school. Usually by Monday, absent students are back in school. We know that when kids come to a place where they feel they belong, where they have access to all the things that we offer, why would you miss out on that? Once they get into the building and they’re with their friends, and they see how much fun it is, we don’t have an issue with chronic absenteeism anymore. 

(This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)