Petitte Set to Fill Big Shoes at Highland

A changing of the guard in the Highland Regional High School hierarchy will bring a fresh face with veteran experience to the principal position here for the upcoming year.

Beth Petitte, a longtime physical education teacher who spent the past seven years as vice principal of Timber Creek Regional High School, joined the leadership team in July on the heels of Frank Palatucci’s retirement.

This September will mark Petitte’s 23rd year working in the Black Horse Pike Regional School District (BHPRSD).

As principal, she has taken on one of the most coveted positions in education, with a combination of salary and security that is nothing to scoff at. She will be earning approximately $115,000 for the 2011-12 year.

In a recent interview, the Williamstown resident marveled at the legacy left by Palatucci, a man who received a standing ovation recognizing his 18 years in the principal's office during the BHPRSD Board of Education's June meeting, and was singled out time and again in speeches during the school's June 16 graduation commencement.

Some of the words used were “visionary,” “motivator” and “master teacher.”

Petitte will do her best to keep pace.

“I’m not Frank,” Petitte said. “I know I’m following a great leader, and the example he has set is not something you want to change from the start.”

At the same time, she is readily mapping out several goals she is looking forward to tackling with a renewed sense of purpose.

Her plan moving forward includes improving on two of the most significant benchmarks upon which a school is judged—standardized test scores and the graduation rate.

“I would like to see the school be at a 100 percent graduation rate,” Petitte said. “And I think that is an attainable goal.”

According to data from the state Department of Education, Highland's graduation rate in 2010 was 95.4 percent, just above the state average of 94.7 percent. It was a marked improvement from the 89.9 percent receiving diplomas from the school in 2008.

And while Highland scores on par with the state average in language arts literacy tests, statistics show it has fallen behind the curve in mathematics, with 41.3 percent testing just partially proficient (indicating a child has not met the minimum level of proficiency required). The state average of partially proficient students is 25 percent.

Those challenges are exacerbated by a historically high mobility rate at the school, where at the height of the recession in 2008-09, almost 19 percent of the 1,169 students moved away. That rate was double the state average at the time.

The rate has since dropped to 13.7 percent, coming closer to the 9.7 percent state average but still presenting a unique set of circumstances.

Petitte acknowledged that without a sense of permanency, it can be hard for higher learning to occur.

In her new role, Petitte will be dealing less with the disciplinary side of the school system and will have a chance to be more in tune with the students' and staff's needs. Yet school security remains one of her chief responsibilities as principal.

“I'm here to ensure that daily operations are conducted without incident … that when parents send their children off to school each day, they know they are sending them to a safe learning environment,” Petitte said.

Her ability to perform her daily duties received high marks from BHPRSD Superintendent John Golden at a recent board of education meeting.

“I think she brings fresh ideas to the table that will be an asset to the school,” Golden said. “She has a lot of energy and expertise that I think both the students and the staff will be able to draw from.”

As a principal, she is finding that sometimes the most difficult task is the one that will have to wait for tomorrow.

“There are deadlines for certain state regulations reports, which tends to take away from the time I have interacting with students and staff,” Petitte admitted. “I feel that the most difficult aspect of my job is not having enough hours in the day.”