Rhode Island Assistant Principal of the YearRIASP selects its RI Assistant Principal of the Year from among all eligible assistant principals K-12. Should the winner be a secondary member, he/she will be recognized by RIASP and NASSP. Should the winner be an elementary member, he/she will be recongized by RIASP and NAESP. The Rhode Island Assistant Principal of the Year is also eligible for National recognition. The NASSP/Virco National Assistant Principal of the Year program recognizes outstanding middle level and high school assistant principals who have demonstrated success in leadership, curriculum and personalization. The NAESP National Outstanding Assistant Principal of the Year Award honors Assistant Principals in Elementary and Middle School Leadership. Assistant Principals with at least 3 years experience at the elementary, middle, or high school level and who are active members of RIASP (for 3 years) and NAESP or NASSP are eligible for nomination. Anyone may nominate an eligible assistant principal – a superintendent, a principal, a teacher, a parent, a student. PREVIOUS RECIPIENTS Assistant Principal of the Year 2007 - Lucille Delasanta - North Providence High School 2008 - John LaFauci - Ricci Middle School 2009 - Kim Granato - Birchwood Middle School 2010 - Jaime Crowley - Mt. Hope High School 2011 - Christen Magill - North Providence High School 2012 - Jason Masterson - North Cumberland Middle School 2013 - Renee Palazzo - Smithfield High School 2014 - Brooke Macomber - Coventry High School 2015 - Kenneth J. Hopkins,Jr.-Vincent J. Gallagher Middle School 2016 - Joseph Porrazzo - Ponaganset Middle School 2017 - Jonathan Mendelsohn - Central High School 2018 - John Fontaine - Cranston High School West 2019 - Kristy Patten - North Cumberland Middle School 2020 - Toby Gibbons - Narragansett High School 2021 - Amanda Grundel - Ponaganset High School 2022 - Renee Walker - Central High School | RIASP Now Accepting Nominations for Rhode Island Assistant Principal of the Year [NOMINATIONS USUALLY ACCEPTED IN THE MONTHS OF SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER & NOVEMBER OF EACH YEAR] *Watch your emails requesting nominations around this time Each year the Rhode Island Association of School Principals selects one member as our Assistant Principal of the Year. Therefore, at this time, we ask that you give consideration to nominating someone who exemplifies the characteristics of an outstanding assistant principal; someone who unselfishly works to build and maintain a school culture that promotes high student achievement. All nominees must meet the following criteria: Assistant Principal for three (3) complete years in one school Letters of nomination may be emailed to Robert Littlefield at rlittlefield@riasp.org. The one to two page letter of nomination should reference the candidates leadership capacity, and at least one particular accomplishment. Once nominated, we (RIASP) will contact your nominee and forward the application packet to them. The application packet is quite comprehensive, so it is advantageous to nominate a candidate in timely fashion. A RIASP selection committee will review all completed nomination packets. At least two (2) finalists shall then be identified. For validation purposes, the selection committee will then conduct school visits, and shall ultimately select the Rhode Island Assistant Principal of the Year. 2022 Assistant Principal of the Year Renee Walker Providence Central High School
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About APOY 2022 Renee Walker: Spend time with any of the students at Central High School and they will point to Ms. Walker as the person who makes coming to school a safe, welcoming place to learn. She exudes caring, empathy, and hope for her students while at the same time acting as a driving force in the instructional life of the school. Recent Central graduate Christina Torres put it best when she said “As a student, I feel like it's amazing that she doesn't treat her work as just a job.. Instead, she uses her position to build bonds with students to know that they matter and are heard.”
In nominating Renee for the award, Principal Scott Sutherland said, “Where do I begin in highlighting the exceptional qualities of this tremendous educational leader? Since my tenure at Central High School, she has helped to bring our 1:1 laptop and Smart Board initiative from concept to reality with instructional benchmarks, true blended learning curriculum and professional supports from outside consulting services. She has created partnerships with several community agencies, local high schools and business partners throughout our City and State. Renee has championed gap closing efforts and educational equality for all students by seeking academic, civic and social partnerships to transform our expanded learning opportunities before, during and after school. Exercising the Opportunity Myth for our Central Knights Campus, our graduation rate increased from 72% to 99% during the 2021 school year.”
A product of the Providence Schools herself, Renee started her career as a sixth grade teacher at Esek Hopkins Middle School, she took on leadership positions at Perry and Nathan Bishop MIddle Schools and E-Cubed Academy before becoming an integral member of the leadership team at Central.
At Central she moderates the Culture and Climate Committee and has helped implement increased after-school activities to meet the diverse interests of the student body. She recruited several new community partners to assist Central students and families. She implemented outdoor classrooms to build connections beyond the four walls of the assigned classroom and implemented a restorative team to create positive and productive discipline alternatives.
The Classical High School grad earned a degree in education and social sciences from Rhode Island College and earned her M.Ed. at the University of Rhode Island.