This article was written by and of Richard Montgomery’s student newspaper The Tide and republished with permission. The original article can be seen here.
“An intern has the opportunity to be the person in charge,” said Dr. David Mugerwa, RM’s new principal intern for the 2026-27 school year.
As a principal intern, Dr. Mugerwa will become the acting principal of the school on Dec. 14th when Ms. Deeny takes a seven-week leave. Despite his many years of administrative experience, becoming acting principal of a high school is a first for Dr. Mugerwa.
“I’ve been an assistant principal in high school for ten years or so,” said Dr. Mugerwa, “and this is my 11th year as an administrator—21 years overall—and all my administrative experience has been in high school. And so, this year it’s kind of like a stepping stone into the actual principalship.” Mugerwa has experience at Paint Branch High School, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School and Parkdale High School in Prince George’s County.
As assistant principal for the junior class here at RM, Mugerwa has already interacted with many students. “I have been fortunate enough to be able to start building that great connection with the junior class officers,” he said. “As the administrator for that class, they have 110 percent of my energy and effort to make sure that there’s a very clear-cut distinction about what the junior class is doing here at RM.”
Junior students have a similar outlook on their goals this year. “I think, as a class, or as all of our officers really want to see our class become more united,” said junior class secretary Layla Lattimore, who has worked with Dr. Mugerwa twice this year. “It’s really nice to see someone who’s really dedicated to, you know, the school and our class,” she said.
As Dr. Mugerwa said, “We have some exciting things planned.”NWhile many juniors have interacted with their administrator, students of the other grades may have seen David Mugerwa at sporting events or around the main hall. “I pride myself on being visible on all floors of this building,” he said. “I do think that visibility is key for a leader because students want to be able to put a name to the face. I know that you care about them, by learning their names and learning things about them as well.”
Dr. Mugerwa not only takes pride in being visible but also in being approachable. He tries to respond to any emails from students within 24-48 hours and is open to any questions during the school day. According to him, “The purpose of that is just knowing that I’m here to be a support system, to help them in their, you know, mental needs, their physical needs, academic needs, or what have you.”
These intentions are also true in reverse. Mugerwa has been building connections with his students by being conversational and sincere, bringing a friendly face to the hallways. Students should know that Mugerwa has been married for 15 years, has a son in first grade, plays three instruments and has a passion for photography.
Dr. Mugerwa’s job as an assistant principal includes his active involvement within the RM community, and his commitment to our school shines through his photography. Students may have seen his work on Instagram, where he posts various photos from the main hall, athletic games, around the school, and special events such as Senior Sunset. “Every Friday, he kind of goes around Main Street and the school, and he takes pictures as soon as he posts them to Instagram, and it’s kind of just, like, showing the community we have in this world and stuff. I think that’s really cool to see,” said Lattimore.
Dr. Mugerwa’s enthusiasm and energy have been shining through the RM community, but the most important impacts will take place later in the school year: Dr. Mugerwa will serve as acting principal while Ms. Deeny will be assigned to another high school. The process marks the final step in becoming a fully-fledged principal, and for Mugerwa, it’s a “stepping stone” into principalship. Currently, there is only one other high school principal intern in MCPS.
“This is the first time I’ve ever had a principal intern, even though I’ve been a principal for 14 years,” said Alicia Deeny, Richard Montgomery’s principal. “I think that it’s important for the older folks, like me, to give up a little bit of control and allow, you know, the younger generation to learn and be ready to assume responsibility for taking over the next phase of what’s gonna happen when we’re not around anymore.”
