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Holly Steel, who served as assistant principal of Clearspring Elementary School in Damascus prior to this school year, will return to the school in July as principal.

The county Board of Education named Steel to replace retiring Principal Gayle Mollet at its meeting last week.

"I am very excited to be coming back," Steel said. "I'm looking forward to it."

Steel, 39, was the assistant principal at Clearspring from 2006 to 2008. This year she is a principal intern at Sherwood Elementary School in Sandy Spring.

"I feel like I know the staff, students and parents [at Clearspring]," she said. "In the summer, maybe through the PTA, we can get groups together to talk about what they really love about the school and how they want it to grow."

She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in early childhood education from Towson University and her Master of Science degree in administration and supervision from Western Maryland College in Westminster.

Steel began her career as a Head Start teacher at Mill Creek Towne Elementary School in Derwood 15 years ago. She has taught third, fourth and fifth grades at Richie Park and Sally K. Ride elementary schools.

In 2000 Steel became a staff development teacher at Sally Ride in Germantown, a job she held for three years before taking the same position at Clarksburg Elementary. She worked as an instructional specialist in the Wheaton Cluster and Downcounty Consortium Office of Organizational Development from 2004 to 2006.

Her husband, Doug Steel, is the school system's supervisor for safety and security.

The Steels live in Frederick County with their children, Brae, 9, and Liam, 7.