From MMSD student to Ada Deer Elementary principal, Bobbi Lee Simpson is ‘living the dream’

“I feel like I am literally living the dream,” said Bobbi Lee Simpson, reflecting on her journey from Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) student to principal of one of its schools. Simpson is in her first year as principal of Ada Deer Elementary, formerly Conrad A. Elvehjem Elementary. Although she graduated from MMSD, her path into education began in Minnesota, where she moved in the 1990s. There, she enrolled in a local community college’s Urban Teaching Program to become a paraprofessional, marking the start of her career in education. “Working as a paraprofessional and being in a space where I m encouraging students to be all they can be caused me to look at the woman in the mirror and declare that I could be more,” Simpson said. Simpson began her career as a paraprofessional, assisting students and managing the classroom under the supervision of a licensed teacher. But she was encouraged to pursue a career in teaching. The assistant principal who hired Simpson had also st