Pima Butte Elementary has new principal and assistant principal

If you’re looking for new Principal Matthew Montoya or Assistant Principal Danielle Record at Pima Butte Elementary School, you may have to look around.

“You won’t find us here,” said Montoya, sitting in his office. Record agrees. They plan to be in the classrooms or out on the field with the students. Both new administrators quite obviously are bringing youth and enthusiasm to their positions.

“I have a fun-loving spirit,” said Record, “and I love to work with kids.”

Montoya is a native Arizonan who grew up in Phoenix and attended ASU on a track and field scholarship. His event was the quarter mile. He taught various elementary grades and served as a sixth grade administrator before assuming the assistant principal position at Maricopa Elementary School last year.

Family time is Montoya’s priority, especially since six-month-old son Cohen has arrived. Wife Jennifer is an elementary curriculum coach in the Maricopa district, and they live in Maricopa.

The new principal still likes to ride his motorcycle–even to school, and he tries to play golf once or twice a year.

Record is a Dallas native, who has lived in Maricopa one year. Her husband, Courtney, works for Sears, and they have a two-year-old daughter, Clarke. Record taught first and third grades in Dallas and was a math and science curriculum advisor in Glendale last year. She will be dividing her time between Pima Butte and Santa Rosa schools this year as assistant principal.

Record says she brings “fresh ideas” to her new position. “I plan to be an extension of the great leadership we have,” she said.

Asked what he learned last year as assistant principal, Montoya noted that he learned the importance of good communication and regard for the job done by elementary teachers.
“Parents love their kids,” he added. “That’s the bond we share. We all have the child in common.”

What are the two new administrators’ plans for this school year? “We’re going to have fun, but we’re going to learn a lot,” explained Montoya. The Character Education Program will continue, as well as many previous programs. “Teachers here worked really hard last year, and we want to keep working with what they’ve done. And we have really high expectations for the kids.”

The first day of class for the 600 students enrolled at Pima Butte Elementary School, as well as at all other schools in the Maricopa Unified School District, will be August 13. Meet the Teachers Nights have been scheduled for all schools on Friday, August 10, from 5-7 p.m.

Both Record and Montoya are looking forward to the start of the new school year. “We’re so ready!” said Montoya, enthusiastically.

Photo by Joyce Hollis