Archive: Around Town

The last interim administrator job in the Lansing School District was filled with a permanent appointment with the hiring of Chris Pettograsso, who will become Principal of Raymond C. Buckley Elementary School this July 1.  She is currently an administrator in the Watkins Glen school system, finishing her seventh year there.  "I was looking for a school similar in size to Watkins Glen, and Lansing is very similar," she says.  "And I know Lansing is very strong in academics.  Now when I tell people that I got this job in Lansing, they say, 'That's a great school district.'


Pettograsso taught elementary school reading at Watkins Glen until two years ago when she became an administrator.  She spent some time as Interim Middle School Principal, and is now administrator of Professional Development and Curriculum.  Before joining Watkins Glen she taught for a year in Voorheesville, NY, near Albany, and substituted in the Ithaca district.  She is a graduate of Ithaca College, and earned her reading certification at Elmira College.  Later she got her administrative degree from SUNY at Cortland.  She was attracted to the Lansing position because of it's good reputation, especially in reading and math.

And her interviews and visits to the school reinforced that impression.  "I've enjoyed going to visit," she says.  "People have been extremely friendly and welcoming.  The current principal, Earlene Carr, is already including me on decision making, has talked to me about anything coming up.  She's been wonderful, and says she is willing to help me out next year, which makes for a nice transition.  Hers will certainly be hard shoes to fill."

Pettograsso says her biggest challenge will be learning and becoming part of the community, and meshing her philosophies with those of the faculty.  "One of the things I know we'll focus on is co-teaching," she says.  "That's a struggle, because it's a new process.  So that will be a challenge to really make it work well."

But she is confident that the challenges will be met.  "There is a very knowledgeable staff here," she says.  "From the questions they asked in my interviews you could tell the background that they have.  They are really in line with a lot of my philosophies, which is great because it's important to have that fit, that connection."

"We talked a lot about reading education," she continues.  "They use a lot of the programs or processes that I used when I was teaching reading.  There are a lot of different ways you can teach, but they seem focussed on the guided reading process.  That is a wonderful way to teach reading.  A lot of the schools I interviewed at just weren't there yet, so it was nice that the staff already has this background knowledge.  They are very open to communication.  I think that's probably one of my strengths, so it's a nice fit."

When asked how she will approach morale issues, Pettograsso says, "I think Dr. Lewis is already focusing on that by bringing the administrative team together to be cohesive.  they have been extremely supportive.  Michelle Stone and Jamie Thomas have been supportive and wonderful.  And the curriculum director, Deb Pichette, is extremely knowledgeable, and has been helpful.  So having that core group will help in the buildings.  Often what will happen when you don't have a steady leader is that you'll have a lot of different groups going off doing their own thing, and then conflicts start to occur."

When asked what she will dress up as at the annual Fall Parade she laughs, ""Last year at my elementary school I dressed up in a hot dog costume.  But I've got some time to think about that!"

Pettograsso says that Lansing has been fortunate to have small class sizes.  "18 or under is ideal," she says.  "Coming from other districts you can see how other class sizes exist.  Especially at the elementary level where you have inclusion practices occurring, if you have that you need a smaller class size.  The more numbers you have the more differentiated teaching you have to do.  That is extremely time consuming -- you end up creating a lesson plan for each child instead of for your whole class.  Any teacher would say the biggest issue is having time to prepare and have a good lesson for all kids.  Research shows the smaller class you have, the more engaged students are, and you can reach them better."

Addressing the issue of state testing, Pettograsso says that the tests are more useful for gauging how well a program is doing than how well individual students are doing.  "It helps you look at programming, strengths and weaknesses," she says.  She adds that teaching to the material is important, rather than teaching only to the tests.  "It's important for the teachers to trust themselves that they don't have to teach to the tests, but still teach to the concepts on the test and reach the kids through understanding.

A Danby resident, Pettograsso has two children, 14 months and 4 months old.  She says she is looking forward to working with the Lansing staff, and to the many activities in the school.  "There are some wonderful things I saw on the Web site, like the Thanksgiving dinner," she says.  "The teachers are very dedicated, a veteran staff.  I am really looking forward to it."

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