PCPS Announces Administrative Changes

The Ponca City Public School district has announced three administrative changes for the 2021-2022 school year pending board approval on April 12, 2021.

Dr. DaLana Hawkins – Associate Director of Secondary Curriculum

Dr. DaLana Hawkins has been named the new Associate Director of Secondary Curriculum for the District effective July 1, 2021. She will be replacing Barbara Cusick who is retiring at the end of the school year. Dr. Hawkins has worked in education for 18 years. She began her teaching career with Ponca City High School in 2003, after completing her undergraduate degree in social studies education at the University of Central Oklahoma. She taught government and history at Po-Hi from 2003 to 2010.  

When asked how she felt about her new role, Dr. Hawkins stated, “I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to serve the students and staff of PCPS secondary schools and our community in this new role.”

In 2010, she earned a master’s degree in education administration from Southwestern Oklahoma State University, and served as an assistant principal and interim head principal at West Middle School for two years. In 2013, she returned to Ponca City High School as an assistant principal. In 2017, she was an instructor for Northwestern Oklahoma State University’s education division while she began her doctorate studies, and has continued as an adjunct instructor. She returned full-time to Ponca City High School in 2018. She completed her doctorate of education in interdisciplinary leadership from Creighton University in 2020. In the spring of 2020, she was named Principal at Ponca City Senior High School.

Ponca City has been home to Dr. Hawkins and her family since 2003. Her husband Jason is General Manager of Stuteville Chevrolet, and their two adult children are Ponca City High School graduates.

Shane Dent – Principal at Ponca City Senior High School

Shane Dent has been selected as the new Principal at Ponca City High School effective July 1, 2021. He is replacing Dr. DaLana Hawkins who has been named Associate Director of Secondary Curriculum for the District.

Shane has 21 years of experience as an educator and administrator. He is currently serving as Secondary Principal of Chisholm High and Middle Schools in Enid, Oklahoma. Under his leadership, Chisholm Middle School was nominated as a Blue Ribbon School from the Oklahoma State Department of Education, and Chisholm High School was nominated as a “Gold” ranked school by GreatSchools.org.

He served as Chisholm High School Principal from 2015 until 2020. Prior to that, he served as Chisholm Middle School Principal from 2006 until 2014. Before relocating to Enid, he served as High School Principal at Sayre High School in Sayre, Oklahoma.

Before moving into administration, Shane was a classroom teacher at Longfellow Junior High in Enid, Oklahoma, where he was honored as Teacher of the Year and Masonic Teacher of the Year.

“I am so excited to join the team at Ponca City Public Schools,” Shane stated. “It will be an honor to serve the Ponca City community and to work with such dedicated educators. It is obvious that Ponca City is committed to its youth, and I look forward to working with everyone at Ponca City High School to invest in the lives of our students.”

“I have been married for 26 years to my wonderful wife Kristen and we have two children. Kelsie, our daughter, is a sophomore at Washburn University majoring in social work and competes in cross country and track. Kaleb, our son, is a freshman at Redlands Community College and is on the baseball team majoring in business.”

Jennifer Dye – Executive Director of Human Resources

Jennifer has been selected as the new Executive Director of Human Resources for the District effective July 1, 2021. She is replacing Curtis Layton who has accepted a Superintendent position in Glenpool, Oklahoma.

Jennifer said, “I’m excited to continue my journey in education with this new role at PCPS.  I’m grateful for the opportunity and look forward to working in this capacity.”

Jennifer has been an educator in Ponca City for twenty-two years. She has been serving as Principal at Union Elementary since 2019. She taught Prekindergarten at Union for sixteen years, served as an Instructional Coach at Liberty for two years, and was an Assistant Principal at West Middle School for two years. Jennifer has a Bachelor of Science degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU) and a Master of Education from Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Oklahoma.

Jennifer and her husband Brian have two children who are PCPS students.