KALAMAZOO, MI -- Sierra Prather, the new Woods Lake Elementary School principal, starts her day greeting students as they walk in the door.

“I’m in the hallway saying hello to our staff, saying hello to the kids, so that they feel important,” Prather said.

The halls of Woods Lake, 3215 Oakland Drive, aren’t new to Prather. She taught there for 15 years before becoming assistant-principal at Parkwood Upjohn Elementary School in 2022.

Th 2025-26 school year is her first as principal of Woods Lake Elementary School.

Prather didn’t always know she wanted to be a teacher. Her original plan was to go to law school. But while a student at Loy Norrix High School, she volunteered at a daycare in the school building.

“I enjoyed it so much,” Prather said.

She started with volunteering once a we

See Full Page