Rife, along with five other 2015 NDP Finalists, has an opportunity to represent Texas as a National Distinguished Principal in Washington, D.C. in the fall.
“Being recognized as a National Distinguished Principal is the highest praise a principal can receive from his or her peers in the profession,” Weatherford ISD Superintendent Dr. Jeffrey Hanks said. “We are very proud of Racheal’s accomplishments and are even more honored to have her on our team.”
According to the TEPSA website, PreK-8 principals were nominated by their peers, employers, faculty members, or community members.
Rife said she has no idea who nominated her.
“Although I am curious as to who actually nominated me, I am still very honored and privileged to be selected as a Finalist for this award,” she added. “Also, I know that my nomination would not have been possible without the dedication and hard work of my amazing staff and the opportunities provided by our WISD district leadership to ‘think outside the box’ and be innovative in providing educational opportunities for every learner.”
The second part of the nomination process was for Rife to complete an in-depth nominee application packet that included information such as professional experience, information about her school, activities/awards/honors, and comments about school leadership.
When asked about her three most significant accomplishments as a principal, Rife provided the following answers:
- Creating a team and belief system where we teach kids to love learning instead of teaching to the “test.”
- Genius Hour as a standard practice. Every learner defines their passion and then we learn, collaborate, and share our projects. It is about having a team that realizes the need to do school different.
- Creating a system/school where every child is successful and we monitor the progress for each child. Campus data indicate a huge percent of my kids make progress as measured by our state assessment.
Rife received notification from TEPSA in early March that she was selected as one of six 2015 NDP Finalists and the next step in the process was that each Finalist would receive a visit by the State Selection Site Visit Team.
“My site visit happened on March 25,” she added. “The team just wanted to see what Curtis was all about. Team members followed me around, visited a few classrooms, chatted with some students, and then talked with a teacher panel for about an hour.”
TEPSA will announce the 2015 NDP recipient in late May by making a surprise visit to that principal’s campus.
The winner will also be recognized at the TEPSA Awards Reception and Summer Conference General Session June 10 in Austin before heading to Washington, D.C. in the fall to be recognized by the National Association of Elementary School Principals.
Racheal Rife’s Background
- Employed by Weatherford ISD since 1998 (17 years)
- Served as Principal at Curtis Elementary since 2002 (11 years)
2015 National Distinguished Principal Finalists
- Racheal Rife: Curtis Elementary (Weatherford ISD)
- Airemy Caudle: Cooke Elementary (Cleburne ISD)
- Diane Gough: Hewitt Elementary (Midway ISD)
- Jeannine Keairnes: Scarborough Elementary (Northside ISD)
- Amy Stephens: Wright Elementary (Lubbock ISD)
- Michelle Wooten: Donald Elementary (Lewisville ISD)