FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE         N.R. #64, 10/25/00

Date:  October 25, 2000
Contact: Irene Cromer
(703) 791-8720

 Five Prince William County Public Schools principals have been nominated by their school communities for the Distinguished Educational Leadership Award.  This award, which is sponsored by the Washington Post Educational Foundation, recognizes an outstanding principal from each of the metropolitan area school districts.  The Prince William County nominees will be honored by the School Board at a reception on December 6.  The Washington Post will announce the winner in mid-November.

 The principals nominated and their schools are Steven Constantino, Stonewall Jackson High School; Carolyn Haley, Triangle Elementary School; Patrice Malloy, Woodbine Preschool Center; Candace Rotruck, Coles Elementary School; and Joan Wilson, Westridge Elementary School.

Steven Constantino
Stonewall Jackson High School

 Steven Constantino was named principal of Stonewall Jackson High School in March of 1995.  Under his leadership, the school’s International Baccalaureate program has grown significantly.  The number of IB exams taken by students enrolled in the program has increased from 139 in 1995 to 509 in spring 2000.   During Constantino’s tenure, the average SAT verbal scored has risen forty-six points and the average math score fifty points. Satisfaction rates on parent and student surveys have increased, while the student achievement gap between minority and non-minority students has grown smaller.  Earlier this year, Stonewall Jackson High School was recognized by Newsweek Magazine as one of the “Top 100” schools in the country.

A nationally recognized expert and consultant in the area of parental involvement, Constantino has presented at the state, local and national level and most recently has developed a “Family Friendly Schools” program.  This program utilizes ParentLink, a computer-accessed program through which parents can obtain grades, attendance and other information.  

Constantino has implemented a new program this year called PRIDE, Personal Responsibility in Daily Effort, in which all student achievement, both personal and academic, will be recognized.  
 A graduate of the State University College at Potsdam where he earned an undergraduate and graduate degree in music education, Constantino later received a certificate of advanced study from the State University College at Cortland.  He is currently pursuing an Ed.D. in educational leadership from Virginia Tech.  

In 1997, Constantino was selected as Principal of the Year by the Virginia Counselor’s Association and Supportive Principal of the Year by the Prince William Regional Counselor’s Association.  He has been chosen by the U.S. Department of Education to serve on its forum to promote high achievement, one of forty-eight principals selected from around the country.

Carolyn Haley
Triangle Elementary School

Carolyn Haley came to Prince William County and Triangle Elementary School five 
years ago after a number of years of teaching and serving as a principal in the Roanoke City school system.  Under her supervision, Triangle has adopted the Continuous Progress Model, in which traditional first, second and third grade classes are abolished in favor of homogeneous grouping based on reading level.  Each student is evaluated three times per year in reading comprehension, composition and mathematics, and these scores are used to individualize student instruction.  Virginia Tech recognized this program with an Excellence in Education Award.  Recently the school was among several in the Commonwealth of Virginia recognized for showing the greatest improvement in SOL scores.

 According to those who nominated her for this award, student discipline problems at Triangle have nearly disappeared during Haley’s tenure.  Each teacher is required to develop a Behavior Management Plan, which outlines student expectations, rewards and consequences.  A hands-on administrator, she conducts a number of staff workshops on topics ranging from vocabulary development to differentiated instruction to guided reading and more.  She visits each classroom at least three times per week, asking students “What are you learning today?”
 Haley earned a M.S. in elementary administration from Radford University and a doctorate of education from Nova Southeastern University, majoring in educational leadership.  An adjunct professor at George Mason University where she teaches a course on supervision and evaluation of instruction, she is also a participant in the Southwest Regional Board Leadership team where she researches and develops strategies for identified needs in school divisions. 

Patrice Malloy
Woodbine Preschool Center

 Patrice Malloy, principal of Woodbine Preschool Center, occupies a unique position as principal of the school division’s only school for handicapped and developmentally delayed preschool students.  A hands-on administrator, she can be found in each classroom each day and accompanying teachers on the home visits that are part of the Woodbine resource model in which teachers serve their students in their homes or daycare settings.

Malloy is familiar with the expectations of each student in her school and well informed of their progress.  This is accomplished through regular “staffings” in which she meets with each teacher and therapist to discuss and monitor each student’s performance.  Under her direction, staff has developed sixty-eight theme bags filled with teacher materials to carry along on home visits.
Malloy supports the staff’s efforts in the school’s annual Child Health and Safety Day, a community-school partnership that raises funds for materials at Woodbine, while providing a service to the community.  Staff members also support the Association for Retarded Citizens’ annual conference, which is attended by hundreds of parents.  Through her leadership, Woodbine has developed partnerships with Hylton and Woodbridge high schools.  Students from these schools provide support and activities for Woodbine students.  These opportunities allow Woodbine to develop a sense of belonging to the community.  

 A graduate of Misericordia College in Dallas, PA, Malloy also earned a M.E. from Smith College in Massachusetts.  Often asked to serve on statewide committees, she recently completed a two-year tenure with Women Educational Leaders of Virginia. 

Candace Rotruck
Coles Elementary School

 When it was necessary to find room for one-on-one reading instruction at Coles Elementary School, Candace Rotruck moved out of her own office and into a storage room, freeing the space.  Her annual plan for the school includes twenty minutes of silent reading for each student each day.  In addition, she arranged for inservices to be held at Coles to give every teacher information and training on providing reading instruction at each child’s reading level.
 As the principal of the school that houses the school division’s hearing impaired students, her nominators say, Rotruck has studied sign language at the community college, “so that she could better communicate with the children.”  She has also made before-school sign language classes available to teachers and staff.

 Coles welcomes United States Marines who serve as mentors, and teachers share monthly staff breakfasts.  All are invited to submit input to “radio station WCES.”
 A master teacher and expert on reading instruction, Rotruck encourages student achievement “without gimmicks.”  According to her staff, “When challenges were set for the 1999-2000 school year, Coles Elementary met them, showing significant measurable growth in all areas of standardized testing, including meeting and surpassing targets set by the county….  When test scores were shared, each teacher was praised publicly for the specific successes of his/her students. No candy bars, free ice cream or pizzas were needed – just the praise and excitement expressed [by] a principal who can inspire with a word or pat on the back.”  

Joan Wilson
Westridge Elementary School

Wilson took over as principal of Westridge upon the sudden and serious illness of her predecessor.  According to those who have nominated her for this award, “Ms. Wilson came in 
and quietly took necessary measures to keep the school running smoothly and efficiently,”  
“Westridge Elementary School needed the strong leadership of a principal such as Mrs. Wilson,” agrees former area associate superintendent Faye Patterson.  “Mrs. Wilson had the unique ability to quickly assume the management of the school and administer in an effective manner to ensure that the quality of programs was maintained, and she always subjects her efforts to careful scrutiny with an eye towards continuous improvement.  Thanks to her leadership, the school has been recognized as exemplary by the community and the school division.”

 Wilson’s leadership has been recognized county-wide through her inclusion on the Gifted Task Force, the Instructional Technology Task Force and in recruiting of prospective teachers.  Determined to improve the already outstanding performance of Westridge students, she has endeavored to keep class sizes small, even to the extent of delaying the hiring of an assistant principal, “choosing extra duties for herself so that students might benefit.”

 According to Patterson, “She views her job as being the `principal teacher’ in her building, and she has never lost touch with the challenges and joys of being a classroom teacher after so many years.”

 A graduate of Madison College, Wilson earned a masters degree from the University of Virginia.