Lauren Kessel, a 12-year Wylie ISD veteran who has served as McMillan Junior High's assistant principal since 2023, will lead the campus as its new principal.

The district announced the appointment Wednesday, Sept. 30. Kessel replaces Jason Ervin, whom the district said left to pursue an opportunity outside of education. For the roughly 1,011 students in grades 7 and 8 at McMillan, the hire means a familiar face at the helm during a year of transition.

Kessel has spent her entire career in Wylie ISD. She started at Draper Intermediate in 2014, teaching fifth- and sixth-grade English language arts. She later moved to McMillan, where she taught seventh-grade reading and held campus leadership roles including Academic Team Facilitator, Leadership Academy member, #EdTechWylie Coach and mentor teacher.

As assistant principal, Kessel coordinated state testing, coached teachers and facilitated professional learning communities, according to the district. She holds Superintendent and Principal certifications covering early childhood through 12th grade, along with certifications in Reading Language Arts for grades 4 through 8 and English as a Second Language.

She earned a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies from the University of North Texas and a master's in educational leadership from Texas A&M University-Commerce. She is pursuing a doctorate in educational leadership at Texas Tech University and expects to finish in 2027.

The promotion comes as McMillan navigates a feeder-pattern shift. The Wylie ISD Board of Trustees approved new attendance zones in January 2025, placing McMillan and Cooper Junior High in the Wylie High School feeder pattern. Burnett Junior High and a new junior high feed into Wylie East High School under the same plan. New intermediate and junior high campuses on Kreymer Lane were scheduled to open in fall 2026.

McMillan earned Scholar School recognition on the 2025 Texas Honor Roll, a distinction based on STAAR performance from 2023 to 2025.

No start date was announced. Kessel's portrait already appears on the McMillan Junior High homepage as principal.