2007 Principal of the Year Finalists

October 25, 2007 - The Principal of the Year and the Assistant Principal of the Year for the Wake County Public School System will be named tonight at ceremonies at the Marbles Museum in downtown Raleigh.

Superintendent Del Burns will be there to congratulate the winners and finalists.

Principals and assistant principals are nominated by their peers. Each finalist is required to submit a portfolio, receive a site visit, and is interviewed by a panel of educators and community members.

Principal of the Year finalists

2007 Principal of the Year finalists included David Ansbacher of East Millbrook Middle, Cathy Moore of Sanderson High, Marcia Alford of Lacy Elementary, Jan Hargrove of Turner Creek Elementary and Sally Reynolds of Poe Elementary.

Here is information about each of the finalists:

David Ansbacher, East Millbrook Middle School

Ansbacher has been in education for 14 years and has been principal of East Millbrook Middle School for four years. He was named principal of East Millbrook Middle School in 2003. He had been an assistant principal at the school for two years. Prior to that, he was a principal intern at Combs Elementary in 2000-01. He taught for a year at Southeast Raleigh High. He taught for three years in a California high school and 18 months at a high school in Namibia.

Ansbacher has worked hard to communicate with his school community. Every Monday morning, he sends out a voice mail and e-mail to all parents and members of the school community, detailing important activities coming for the week. There is a parent resource center in the school’s front office. It has parent information, PTSA contacts, a parent library, a computer for accessing school websites and opportunities for volunteering and tutoring.

East Millbrook teacher Brenda Harrington says Ansbacher offers teachers a positive, professional environment.

“He is a cheerleader for his staff, encouraging them all along the way and requiring nothing of them that he does not require of himself,” said Harrington. “When staff feels overwhelmed by the demands of teaching, he does not sugarcoat the situation, or falsely convince them that the job will get easier. Instead, he tells staff that together they will get better dealing with those demands that together they will deal with whatever the issues are.”

Cathy Moore, Sanderson High School

Moore has been in education for 20 years and has been principal of Sanderson High School for seven years. Prior to that Moore was assistant principal at Enloe High and Apex High. She was a foreign language teacher at Enloe High and taught at a high school in another NC school district.

Moore finds many ways to connect the school to the community and provide student recognition including senior prom and an ‘Alive at 25” program. Sanderson has earned national recognition for its annual Senior-Senior Prom at Capital towers Retirement Center. The school’s National Honor Society seniors put on a Senior Prom at the retirement center complete with prom attire, music, dancing and food. The ‘Alive at 25’ program involved more than 75 parents, volunteers and law enforcement officers who helped to inform and educate teen drivers to the perils of the road and promote good decision making.

Sanderson PTSA President Ann Sherron says Moore challenges teachers to reach higher.

“Mrs. Moore created “late start Tuesdays,” equipping teachers to help each other by giving them 50 minutes on Tuesday mornings for like subject teachers to discuss what is working in their classes and what is not,” said Sherron. “It is through innovations like this that the teaching staff realizes Mrs. Moore’s creativity and leadership skills. Mrs. Moore listens, identifies the problems, adapts to the need and creates flexibility for her staff to overcome issues.”

Marcia Alford, Lacy Elementary School

Alford has been in education for 35 years and has been principal of Lacy Elementary School for eight years. Prior to that, she worked in WCPSS school administration as a senior director in Instructional Services and in Community Services. She was a Before/After-School and Summer School Program Specialist for three years. She was a Hodnett Doctoral Fellow for a year at NC State University. For six years, she was the extended day coordinator for Combs Elementary.

At Lacy, Alford uses a number of strategies to retain and recruit quality teachers.

“Maybe the most important strategy is creating working conditions that are conducive to a professional working place,” says Alford. “I believe the culture and climate of a school significantly impact working conditions. Over the past eight years, we have developed constructive traditions and norms that help us to continually improve and grow. When Gov. Easley held a news conference to reveal the first Teaching Working conditions survey results, he came to Lacy and congratulated us on our results.”

In a letter signed by the staff and faculty of Lacy Elementary, they commend Dr. Alford for her instructional leadership.

“She provides opportunities for us to work in professional learning communities in order to analyze curriculum objectives, look at student work and to create formative assessments,” write the teachers. “Based on our needs, staff development is provided to equip us as teachers. As our campus embraces greater diversity we are being trained to meet the needs of our newcomers. Lacy students have had high growth performance on the NC EOGs for the past ten years.”

Jan Hargrove, Turner Creek Elementary

Hargrove has been in education for 30 years and has been principal of Turner Creek Elementary since it opened three years ago. Prior to that, Hargrove has served as principal of Olive Chapel Elementary and Combs Elementary. She was assistant principal at Apex High and held several positions with the Charlotte Mecklenburg school system including assistant principal, elementary schools personnel coordinator and special education teacher.

In working to retain and recruit quality teachers for Turner Creek Elementary, Hargrove found one of the reasons that teachers leave has been to stay at home and care for children.

“One solution we tried was bona fide job sharing,” said Hargrove. “There are two regular classroom teacher positions shared by four teachers each working half-time. In addition, there are two media specialists who job share and two teachers sharing the ALP II position. By allowing this type of job sharing position, we retain the expertise and experience of the teachers and increase job and family satisfaction.”

Teacher Karen Berryman says she is valued by her principal as a person first and a teacher second.

“We are honored for whom we are, nurtured and appreciated,” said Berryman. “I have felt this way for the past nine years and attribute these feelings to the trust and care that is demonstrated and valued by Jan. She further demonstrates professionalism by communicating that relationships are the common thread for success within our school and that through these connections we become emotionally and intellectually engaged in our work.”

Sally Reynolds, Poe Elementary School

Reynolds has been in education for 14 years and has been principal of Poe elementary for six years. Prior to that, she was assistant principal at Poe. She worked as an assistant principal, cross categorical resource teacher, instructional resource teacher, academically gifted teacher and fourth grade teacher at Kingswood Elementary. She was an AG teacher at Oak Grove Elementary and has been an evening instructor at Wake Technical Community College.

Reynolds credits professional learning communities with helping her faculty to effectively use collaboration.

“Through the use of PLCs, we have a structure and routine to follow,” said Reynolds. “Our teachers are empowered to analyze their own data and to take risks in sharing their data. PLC groups are able to capitalize on individual teacher strengths and support each other in areas of weakness. The entire process has strengthened our teaching practices and school program.”

In a letter of support, the Poe Elementary faculty and staff say Mrs. Reynolds has been instrumental in maintaining high academic standards through the implementation of the Montessori philosophy, while promoting a supportive environment for all students, staff and parents.

“By recognizing, listening to and supporting others’ ideas, Mrs. Reynolds fosters collaboration and a shared vision within the school community,” write the teachers. “Close attention to detail, relentless effort and a mind for innovation are qualities that enable Mrs. Reynolds to create a culture of community and celebration.”

Assistant Principal of the Year Finalists

2007 Assistant Principal of the Year finalists included Kim Mitchell of Middle Creek Elementary, Teena Rembach of Dillard Drive Elementary, Deborah Edwards of Salem Elementary, Ginger Wooten of Moore Square Middle and Kelly Aman of Millbrook.

Here is information about each of the finalists:

Kim Mitchell, Middle Creek Elementary

Mitchell has been in education for 18 years and has been assistant principal at Middle Creek Elementary for one year. Prior to that, she was an assistant principal at Kingswood Elementary and Lufkin Road Middle School. She was an assistant principal intern at Apex Elementary. She was a science teacher at Southeast Raleigh High and in other high schools in Georgia and North Carolina.

In discussing leadership, Mitchell says school administrators must build and nurture relationships with teachers, students and parents.

“Schools are full of people who have fears and doubts, strengths and weaknesses, knowledge and questions, and investments, in children,” said Mitchell. “Administrators must be willing to listen as well s give advice. They have to be able to reassure as well as praise and encourage. They have to be able to constructively critique as well as compliment.”

Deborah Edwards, Salem Elementary

Edwards has been in education 30 years and has been assistant principal at Salem Elementary since it opened seven years ago. Prior to that, she was the physical education instructor at Reedy Creek Elementary. She was the athletics director at Peace College for four years. She was a physical education instructor and coach of women’s athletics At Leesville High and Cary High.

Edwards says that she loves going to work every single day.

“Morning bus duty allows me to greet our students as they arrive, and it starts my day in such a positive way,” said Edwards. “Visiting classrooms and seeing the wonderful teaching and learning that takes place at Salem excites me. Mentoring our beginning teachers and relying on the expertise of our experienced teachers gives me the opportunity to inspire and encourage our staff to grow professionally. Even as I deal with daily discipline issues, I am always aware that I have the opportunity to make a difference in the life of a child and use teachable moments to help them learn from their mistakes.”

Ginger Wooten, Moore Square Middle School

Wooten has been in education for 17 years and has been assistant principal at Moore Square Middle school for seven years. Prior to that she was assistant principal of East Cary Middle School and was a teacher at Wake Forest-Rolesville Middle School. She also taught middle school in another NC school district.

Wooten says it is important for all students to be challenged and engaged in learning.

“Our staff has been given training on a variety of new tools such as PLC’s, Quality Tools, Blue Diamond, Walkthroughs and Teaching in the Block to name a few,” said Wooten. “All our staff development training directly affects student learning. Teachers feel they have grown professionally since taking the worships. Teachers meet in their PLCs – professional learning communities – to make common assessments and plan together. They use Blue Diamond tests as benchmarks. They are responsible for making curriculum maps every quarter – meeting to plan what goals and standards are going to be taught, what strategies will be used to make sure students are learning and what assessments are going to be used to assess students.”

Teena Rembach, Dillard Drive Elementary

Rembach has been in education for 20 years and has been assistant principal at Dillard Drive Elementary for nine years. Prior to that, she was an assistant principal and instructional resource/technology teacher at Adams Elementary. She was an elementary PE teacher in another NC school district.

Rembach says her school has used professional learning communities to focus on student achievement and professional growth.

“In implementing data walls, teachers began to look at student performance at mid year and were able to reflect on how to meet the needs of every child,” said Rembach. “Through this collaborative effort, teachers were able to regroup students to receive individualized instruction to meet their specific needs. We have made great strides in focusing our PLCs on instructional best practices, student achievement and assessment data.”

Kelly Aman, Millbrook High School

Aman has been in education for 13 years and has been assistant principal at Millbrook High for four years.  Prior to that, she was curriculum integration coordinator at East Millbrook Middle School and an English teacher at Athens Drive high and East Wake High.

Aman worked at Millbrook High School to establish the Wildcat Academy, the school’s ninth grade center.

“Based on the premise that the freshman year is pivotal to a student’s success in high school, I approached our principal about the need for a separate setting to address the unique needs of ninth graders,” said Aman. “With her support, I hired faculty, reorganized facilities, repurposed equipment and opened the Wildcat Academy. Our philosophy is simple, yet effective: to promote success in high school by providing all students with the organizational and study skills needed for high school success and by minimizing the negative impact of the transition from middle to high school that so many freshmen experience.”

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