Bonnie Johnson-Aten has been a leader in the Burlington School District for many years now and has the necessary credentials and experience to lead an elementary school. Mrs. Johnson-Aten has significant familiarity with the Edmunds Campus and community, having served as Principal of Edmunds Middle School (EMS) for more than a decade. Bonnie Johnson-Aten was previously serving as the District Lead Principal for the Burlington School District. In her role, she utilized a blended coaching model to ensure district coherence and provide ongoing support to the school-based leaders within the District. Her goal was to increase the capacity of building leaders, thereby ensuring equity of opportunity for all students. Mrs. Johnson-Aten has spent more than 20 years of education in the state of Vermont, serving in a number of different roles. Prior to her assignment as the District Lead Principal, she served as the principal of Edmunds Middle School for 11 years. Mrs. Johnson-Aten has always had a passion for equity and served as Burlington School District’s first-ever Equity and Diversity coordinator.
Mrs. Johnson-Aten’s experience extends beyond the schoolhouse having served as a member of the Vermont State Board of Education and as a policy analyst for the Dean administration. Her extensive service in school-based leadership positions reflects expertise in the areas of collaboration, communications, and management. Johnson-Aten’s contributions to education include service at the local, state and national levels and demonstrate her ability to understand and contextualize the interplay between practical leadership at the local level and policy leadership at the state and national levels.
She has served as a board trustee for the Vermont Principals Association, the National Association Secondary School Principals (NASSP) and the Vermont State Colleges. In 2018, Mrs. Johnson-Aten was recognized by the State of Vermont’s State Board of Education for “extraordinary service and commitment to the State of Vermont” as well as “commitment to equity, student voice, and independence.”
