Lives of Consequence
Bonnie Johnson-Aten '82
District Lead Principal, Burlington School District
A leading educator, Bonnie Johnson-Aten ’82 believes firmly in the power of positivity. As the District Lead Principal of the Burlington School District in Vermont, she helps local school administrators solve problems and develop innovative programming throughout one of the largest districts in the state. Johnson-Aten was honored by Vermont’s State Board of Education for her “extraordinary service” and “commitment to equity, student voice, and independence.”
Johnson-Aten previously served as the principal of Edmunds Middle School for more than 10 years, where she pioneered a program designed to increase performance by fostering relationships between teachers and students. Because she believed so strongly in the program, Johnson-Aten worked with students in a homeroom of her own in addition to overseeing approximately 350 students. Her students, she said, knew they could come to her at any time, and because she watched them grow over three years, she could clearly see when they were struggling.
Prior to her role at Edmunds, Johnson-Aten served as Burlington's first diversity-equity coordinator, a role she said prepared her for the challenges of leading first a school and then a district among changing demographics in Burlington schools.
Johnson-Aten has served on the Vermont Board of Education and advised Governor Howard Dean on education policy issues. She has served as trustee of the National Association for Secondary School Principals, an association dedicated to ensuring that every school has a great leader, from 2010-2014. Johnson-Aten was also the dean of students and assistant principal at U-32 High School in Central Vermont and the Champlain Valley Union High School's house director.
Johnson-Aten earned her B.A. in sociology from William Smith before going on to receive her master's degree in education from Union Institute. She is also a graduate of UVM's Snelling Institute for School Leadership.