New vice principals named at Carson City schools

The Carson City School District is pleased to announce the appointment of four new vice principals for the 2017-2018 school year: Mrs. Michelle Cleveland at Bordewich Bray Elementary, Mrs. Chelise Crookshanks at Carson Middle School (CMS), Mrs. Julie Cowan at Al Seeliger Elementary and Mrs. Cheryl Richetta at Fremont Elementary School.

"We welcome Mrs. Cleveland, Mrs. Crookshanks, Mrs. Cowan and Mrs. Richetta in their new roles,” said Mr. Richard Stokes, CCSD superintendent. “They each will provide valuable and dynamic support to the administrative teams at their respective schools. The vice principal’s job is to help administer the operational programs of each school, and I look forward to working alongside these outstanding educators as they become familiar with their new assignments.”

In their positions, each vice principal will be part of an educational system focused on developing the skill and talents for all students through rigorous learning experiences, supportive relationships and relevant real-life applications. As vice principals they will be visible instructional leaders for the schools and propel student achievement in the areas of curriculum, instruction, assessment, accountability and staff supervision.

Before she was appointed vice principal at Bordewich, Mrs. Michelle Cleveland previously served as assistant principal at Donner Springs and Moss Elementary Schools in Reno and Sparks. She was also assistant principal at Double Diamond and Lemmon Valley Elementary. Her teaching experience includes sixth grade at Donner Springs Elementary, dean of students, reading specialist and grades 2-6 at Smithridge Elementary and English Second Language (ESL) teacher/head of department and grades 6-8 at Eagle Valley Middle.

Prior to her appointment as vice principal at CMS, Mrs. Chelise Crookshanks served as dean of students at CMS. She helped lead the implementation of the Race to the Top learner-centered model by developing and monitoring 90-day plans with school-wide goals in the areas of curriculum, instruction and student learning. Crookshanks previously served as the assistant principal/dean of students and instructional coach for White Pine High School in Ely. She also taught Social Studies, German, Physics, Chemistry, Advanced Chemistry and Environmental Science there.

Prior to her appointment as vice principal at Seeliger, Mrs. Julie Cowan served as an administrative intern under Principal Paula Zona at Al Seeliger Elementary School. She also served as the English Language Arts (ELA) implementation specialist and Success for All facilitator there at Seeliger. Cowan’s teaching experience includes second grade and kindergarten at Seeliger, kindergarten and first grade at Fremont Elementary, second grade at Empire Elementary and resource (grades 4-6) at Spanish Springs Elementary.

Mrs. Cheryl Richetta previously served CCSD as the lead literacy specialist where she oversaw the district’s rollout of the Read By Grade 3 Initiative. She also simultaneously served as the summer school administrator for six elementary schools and as the ELA implementation specialist at Mark Twain Elementary. In addition, Richetta served as an administrative intern under Principal Ruthlee Caloiaro at Mark Twain, and her teaching experience includes sixth and seventh grade math at Carson Middle and kindergarten, first, third and fifth grade at Mark Twain.