{"id":27935,"date":"2026-01-22T09:00:43","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T14:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fluvannareview.com\/?p=27935"},"modified":"2026-01-22T09:00:46","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T14:00:46","slug":"school-board-reorganizes-celebrates-educators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fluvannareview.com\/2026\/01\/school-board-reorganizes-celebrates-educators\/","title":{"rendered":"School Board reorganizes, celebrates educators"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Heather Michon
Correspondent<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Fluvanna County School Board met on Wednesday (Jan. 14) to elect new leadership, set the stage for the busy budget season ahead, and then moved on to the main event of the evening: recognizing the recipients of the 2025-26 Teacher and Staff of the Year awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Superintendent Peter Gretz explained that teachers and staff were nominated by their peers \u201cto recognize those who make exceptional contributions to our schools.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fluvanna County High School: Sherry Esch & Margie Brown<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Principal Margo Bruce introduced Office Manager Margie Brown and FCHS English teacher Sherry Esch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe school does not operate if Margie is not there,\u201d Bruce said of Brown. \u201cShe is my everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If she were still in school, \u201cI would want to be in Ms. Esch\u2019s classroom,\u201d Bruce said. \u201cShe just brings joy to the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fluvanna County Middle School: Alicia Patterson & Stacy Manuel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Principal Lara Dugolinsky said that Alicia Patterson was a star in the language arts department, \u201cdedicated to her craft, fully invested in her students\u2019 growth and progress, and consistently inspires those around her with creativity and commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stacy Manuel, the school’s IT support technician, has tackled the many issues that go along with increasingly tech-dependent classrooms and \u201chas dedicated countless hours to ensuring these successful rollouts\u201d as each new tool is introduced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manuel is so dedicated, in fact,  that she stopped during her own award ceremony to help the School Board staff with a faulty piece of recording equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carysbrook Elementary School: Jennifer Gross & Robert Palmer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Principal Scott Lucas said that Teacher of the Year Jennifer Gross \u201cdoesn\u2019t realize how good she truly is,\u201d adding that \u201cshe creates a learning environment where students feel valued, challenged, and encouraged to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Custodian Robert Palmer \u201cjust never stops,\u201d said Lucas, \u201cno matter what is needed, he\u2019s there to take care of it. He takes so much pride in our school, in our staff, and in our students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Central Elementary School: Cynthia Peck & Troy Bates<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI could stand here and talk forever about Ms. Peck,\u201d said principal Amy Barnabei of Cynthia Peck, \u201cbecause I have the highest respect and love for this lady.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peck was recognized for her willingness to help staff, students, and fellow teachers. \u201cBut most importantly, she thinks outside the box.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Custodian Troy Bates was not able to attend the ceremony, but Barnabei said he was \u201ctruly a role model and mentor for our students \u2013 he really is such an asset for us. He takes great pride in ensuring that our school environment is safe, clean, and welcoming for students, staff, and visitors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peck and Bates were also named as Division Teacher & Staff Member of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Year, New Leadership<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wednesday marked the first meeting for Sean Brennan (Columbia) and R. Anthony Edmonds (Fork Union), who were both elected in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andre Key (Rivanna) was elected as chair, and Charles Rittenhouse (Cunningham) as vice chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key guided members through a long list of committee assignments and policy approvals. Board members briefly debated the budget calendar before agreeing to hold a budget seminar on Jan. 28 from 9 a.m. to noon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meetings will continue to be held on the second Wednesday of the month, with public sessions starting around 6:30 pm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The School Board will present its FY27 Budget to the Board of Supervisors on Feb. 25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Heather MichonCorrespondent The Fluvanna County School Board met on Wednesday (Jan. 14) to elect new leadership, set the stage for the busy budget season ahead, and then moved on to the main event of the evening: recognizing the recipients of the 2025-26 Teacher and Staff of the Year awards. Superintendent Peter Gretz explained that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":27916,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[132,23,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-latest_news","category-schools"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fluvannareview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27935"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fluvannareview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fluvannareview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fluvannareview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fluvannareview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27935"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fluvannareview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27936,"href":"https:\/\/fluvannareview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27935\/revisions\/27936"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fluvannareview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fluvannareview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fluvannareview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fluvannareview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}