Principal Bethany Scott meets with members of Woodland’s Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS) team on Thursday. She’s new to Mansfield City Schools but there’s certainly nothing new about Bethany Scott’s role as a building principal.
Scott, who will lead the Woodland Elementary staff this year, served 13 years as principal of urban charter schools operated by Constellation Schools. Nine of those years (2005 to 2014) were in Mansfield, some of them in Constellation’s school in the former YMCA building on Park Avenue West.
"At one time I was principal of both K-3 in the former Stadium School and grades 4-8 in the former Ranchwood School,” said Scott. “I know Mansfield and the area. I graduated from Crestview High School.”
Scott comes to Woodland from Constellation’s Collinwood Village Academy in Cleveland, where she had served as principal since 2014. She succeeds Kim Johnson, who accepted a position in another district.
“The Woodland staff has been very willing to help me settle in,” Scott said. “One of our priorities will be continuing the work of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and adding to that work. Building a positive school environment and relationships within our classrooms is fundamental to successful learning.”
In a message to parents on Woodland’s Tygerpride.com page, Scott writes, “We believe that our positive connections with students, families and the community are a vital part of the success of every child. I encourage you to partner with us as we embark on a new school year with positive connections and individual student growth as our continued focus.”
She and her
staff also will continue to emphasize gains in literacy and math.
Scott said
Ruthie Akuchie, a 2007 Mansfield Senior High graduate who is a local artist and
storyteller, will work with Woodland students in a program funded by an Ohio
Arts Council grant.
“Ruthie will work alongside our teachers two or three days a week during the first month helping studies to draw and write self-portraits,” Scott said.
Scott earned undergraduate degrees in elementary education and as an intervention specialist from Grace College in Indiana and a master’s in educational leadership from Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio.
She and her
husband, Jeff, the chief of police at Notre Dame College, are remodeling a house
they purchased recently in Ashland. They have an 8-year-old daughter.
Before
advancing to the role of principal, Scott was a third- and first-grade teacher
with Constellation Schools.
“Many people still think of Woodland as a neighborhood school in the sense that it’s kids from the immediate area,” Scott said. “That used to be the case but with open enrollment we now have kids from all over Mansfield. Our mission is still the same -- to provide the best education for each of them.”