It’s obvious when a teacher or educator steps up and goes above and beyond what is normally called for from their profession. That’s why the North Hamilton County Elementary PTA wasn’t surprised at all when the school’s principal, Jacquie Hauth, won the Hamilton County PTA’s Principal of the Year award for elementary schools.
It’s been a long time coming, they say.
“This is the fourth year we’ve gone [to the awards ceremony], and every year they were so disappointed that we didn’t win,” said Hauth, referring to her PTA board.
When her name was announced, the PTA members in attendance cheered so loudly that Hauth said she received comments from other principals and teachers at the event.
While Hauth may personally have not been expecting the award, one can certainly see why her efforts at NHCE have been recognized. The PTA had written a letter that listed Hauth’s policies and qualities. Among them were her open door policy for students, teachers and parents, her dedication to the recent fundraiser efforts at NHCE and the academic changes she’s pushed for in her time as principal.
“We’ve worked to help teachers learn to become better teachers, and I see it trickling down to the students,” Hauth said. “I think we’ve made great strides in changing with the times.”
Although she acknowledged that she’s probably had to stay late on many days due to her open door policy, Hauth said being accessible to everyone in the building and forging that connection was key to doing her job to the best of her ability.
“Just last week I got a note from a little first-grader who said he needed to talk to me, and what he said was great stuff!” she said. “It keeps me in the loop when I talk to people on a timely basis.”
Hauth gave special thanks to NHCE’s PTA board, saying that they have always come through whenever she asked something of them. The support of the parents of the students, she said, is paramount to the success of the school.
Moving forward, Hauth said she is looking forward to the school’s professional development plan for the next academic year. Connecting the pieces of the various instructional strategies the school has developed over the last year across the board will be significant, she explained.
“We’ve got really excellent reading strategies that we can apply to all subjects,” Hauth said. “It’s just exciting to see the little ones getting ahead, because you know that will follow them.”
Hauth had previously won a Teacher of the Year award from the Hamilton County PTA, but this is her first Principal of the Year award. Previously the assistant principal at Westview Elementary, Hauth took over the helm at NHCE in 2012.