Murray Siegel

By Murray Siegel

Sequoia Pathway has two principals, one for the elementary grades and one for the secondary grades.

Last year’s high school principal, Dr. Alfonso F. Alva, was promoted to assistant superintendent. The new secondary principal is Diane Silvia, who grew up in New York and started her career in retail management. Seeking a slower pace and better climate, she and her family moved to Arizona, where she discovered a passion for teaching. She earned a master’s in educational leadership and joined Pathway in 2009, holding various teaching and administrative positions.

Last year, Pathway piloted several new programs to enhance the quality of curriculum and instruction, such as Galileo and Alpine Data Management Systems. Silvia believes these programs will continue to improve the school’s effectiveness. When asked about the new school year, she stated, “I am excited about spearheading our mission at Pathway, which is to cultivate a community of excellence through pride and appreciation for our surroundings, education and self.”

The elementary principal is Rachael Lay, who grew up in Houston, Texas, and holds a bachelor of science degree in elementary education from NAU and a master’s in administration and supervision from the University of Phoenix. She has been in education 13 years and has been principal at Pathway for seven years.

Lay points to the introduction of the Galileo set of academic tools and assessments this year, which has enhanced the daily classroom instruction. She looks forward to the new academic year due to the departmentalization of teaching in grades four through six and the addition of intramural sports.

Mat Reese is the principal at Leading Edge Academy (LEA) and was raised in Niagara Falls, New York. He left New York to attend ASU and received his undergraduate degree there. He received a master’s degree in administration from NAU. Reese was a teacher, coach and principal in public schools for 32 years. He joined LEA as its first principal in 2008.

He points with pride to the student- and parent-friendly nature of the campus, and he has an open-door policy that allows parents to see him without an appointment. His excitement for the new school year is the same anticipation he has each new year, watching students grow academically.

At Legacy Traditional School (LTS), the principal is Amy Sundeen. She grew up in Chicago and received a B.S. from Northern Illinois University. She moved to AZ in 2006 and decided to pursue a career in education through the post-baccalaureate program at Rio Salado College and obtained a master’s degree in educational administration. Joining LTS in 2008 as a special education teacher, she became school principal in 2016.

Sundeen believes in the success of the back-to-basics curriculum which is combined with a fine arts program. She is looking forward to continued success with the new VEX Robotics program this year.

This column appears in the August issue of InMaricopa.

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