Dickinson ISD has long had the reputation of bringing the best quality teachers and administrators into the fold. Such is the case for new Hughes Road Elementary School Principal Kristi Peterson. For the past 10 years of her career, she heard how great things were in Dickinson ISD, and she wondered what it would be like to work for a district that placed value in their employees.
"I would hear all kinds of things about Dickinson all over the place," she said. "I would go to a conference, and people would be talking about it. Even at my previous jobs in teaching, I would always hear how great things were here."
Peterson graduated from Baylor University in 1993 with her Bachelor of Science in Education. Her career began at Friendswood ISD and moved on to Alvin, Clear Creek and La Porte. She went back to school in 2006 to get her Master of Science at the University of Houston at Clear Lake.
Elementary school is where her heart is. After serving two years as a junior high administrator, she moved back to elementary school as assistant principal in La Porte. "My heart has always been with younger students," she said. "I enjoy working with them and listening to them share their creative thinking."
Peterson is excited about all the opportunities in store for Hughes Road and Dickinson ISD. "I want and expect Hughes Road to be the destination campus for Dickinson ISD. I want all of our teachers to love it here and our parents to say they love bringing their kids here, but most of all, I want our students to get the best education they could ever get," Peterson said.
Peterson spends every morning out in the driveway helping kids out of their car and meeting parents. She spends part of her day evaluating teachers and checking on kids to make sure nothing gets missed.
"I want us as a whole to always be improving," she said. "We want to make sure kids are getting what they need and are learning and improving every day. Our teachers here at Hughes Road are doing a great job. They all work hard and teach with such conviction and always want to improve."
"I just love my job and these kids," Peterson said. "Some nights I don't leave until late because I just want to make sure I have called that parent who needed me earlier in the day or answered that email that I didn't get to. Most of the time during the day I don't get to some of that stuff, so I don't ever want to leave without taking care of things."
With so much emphasis on test scores, Peterson said she believes when you are teaching every day, scores will improve on their own because students are engaged and learning.
"We have to make sure we are teaching what we need to every day," she said. "I believe if we do that, the scores will take care of themselves."
The pep rally ended with the crowning of the Queen and King, Maria Santos and Stephen Hughes. Also serving on the Homecoming Court were Senior Queen finalists Bailee Berringer, Karla Duran, Michelle Lacey and Makena Meeks; and Senior King finalists Jose Jaramillo, Nick Prescott, Brad Woodard and Keffirn Wydermyer.
