A familiar face steps into the role of Principal this August at Fort Zumwalt School District’s Mike Clemens Center for Adaptive Learning. Beth Sutton has served the past three school years as the school’s administrative intern and, before that, she taught at Forest Park Elementary and Twin Chimneys Elementary. She started her career as a special education teacher at South High School.
Sutton is looking forward to a “back-to-basics” approach with her team of about 20 staff who serve almost 30 students grades K - 12. The center is a place to help students find success when the special education services at their home school might not meet all of their needs. It allows many families to keep their students in Fort Zumwalt, rather than having to travel longer distances for the services they need. “The staff at Clemens Center is amazing and they do great things with these students,” Sutton says. “I really want to celebrate that.”
Her hope for students this year is that they can find joy at school. “For some, that’s been lost,” Sutton says. “I hope that we can help them be happy at school. Everything else will come if we can do that.” She is excited about bringing the common language and the power of building strong habits to the families at the Clemens Center through The Leader in Me. Staff will be sharing more about the Seven Habits of Happy Kids as the start of school gets closer.
Sutton and her husband met as teachers at South High and raised three children in Fort Zumwalt, all of whom are in their early 20s now. When she’s not at school, family game nights are a favorite way to pass the time. She also enjoys listening to music. “I’m an 80s girl!” she says.