Morgantown Magazine Spring 2020 Edition

Best PreK–12 Teacher

Jennifer Secreto Morgantown High School

Jennifer Secreto chalks her success in the classroom up to setting clear expectations and teaching students to be dedicated and responsible—“old-school,” she calls it. It’s been one heck of a year for teachers everywhere, and Secreto says that, while she might have been named the winner of the category, the award really goes out to all of her colleagues, too, who have gone above and beyond in their classrooms this year. Here’s just one example of why Secreto is a favorite teacher: As the school year was getting started in August, she wanted her students to have textbooks and printed class materials that they wouldn’t have to search for in a digital platform. Old-school style. She hosted a drive-by so that students could pick their materials up. And for those who couldn’t? Well, Secreto delivered them to each student’s home.

Best PreK–12 Principal

1 st

Sheri Petitte Ridgedale Elementary School

time winner

After 15 years teaching at St. Francis Central Catholic School, Sheri Petitte switched to public education and, simultaneously, earned a master’s in educational leadership. When the principal position opened up at Ridgedale Elementary in 2015, she took the leap. Ridgedale has grown from 360 students to about 500 since Petitte came on, so she’s overseen years of classroom and other construction. Petitte is hands- on—she knows students’ names and spends her days in classrooms and at events. “We’ve worked very hard as a community to develop the culture that makes the school a place that everybody wants to be,” she says. One sign it’s succeeding: the monthly awarding of the coveted Sir Attends-A-Lot trophy to the classroom with the best attendance. “You’d think we were handing out gold coins!” Petitte is proud of the Ridgedale community. “Most rewarding is to see the success of not only the students, but also the teachers and other staff—they have grown so much professionally,” she says. “We can’t do it without any of them.”

42 MORGANTOWN FEBRUARY/MARCH 2021

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