Ann Arbor Open School Principal Naomi Zikmund-Fisher announced today she resigned her position effective Feb. 28 after going on leave at the beginning of the calendar year.

In an e-mail to parents, Zikmund-Fisher said Ann Arbor Open is ready for new leadership as she seeks a new direction in her own life.

Zikmund-Fisher went on leave at the beginning of 2011 to return graduate school, district spokesperson Liz Margolis said. Tamber Woodworth, former principal at Pioneer High School, has taken over as principal on an interim basis from Kit Flynn, the Ann Arbor Open media specialist who served as interim principal during the month of January.

Woodworth will serve as principal until the end of the school year.

“It is time for Ann Arbor Open to have new, permanent leadership for the challenges it faces today,” Zikmund-Fisher wrote in the e-mail. “In order for that leadership to be in place for the fall, the process needs to start now.”

Zikmund-Fisher had been principal at Ann Arbor Open for nine years.

Margolis said the district would now begin the hiring process for a permanent principal. She said she did not have a timeline for the process, since Zikmund-Fisher announced her decision today. But Margolis said a new, permanent principal will be in place by the beginning of the 2011-12 school year.

Zikmund-Fisher thanked Ann Arbor Open students and families for their support while she was principal and said she looked forward to continuing to be a part of the Ann Arbor community.

“I would not trade the last nine years for anything in the world. I truly treasure the work we have done together and the relationships I have formed with so many of you,” she said. “I hope those connections will still exist now that I am simply your neighbor and friend.”

Kyle Feldscher covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.