Assistant Principal Tiffany Besse has been a principal at Pattonville High School since 2008. But on July 1, Besse will leave the high school to become Pattonville’s new Director of Secondary Education. This will be the first time in 15 years that Besse will not be around students all day, five days a week. The main component of her new job is to support professional development and growth for teachers and students at the middle school and high school level.

“That encompasses working on curriculum, textbook adoptions, and working with support staff. It’s really a role that I think I’ll enjoy in terms of being able to work with a wide-range of people and some different things I currently work on,” Besse said.

Besse will also be a huge support to the high school for the Innovation Grant, which is something she has been working on this year.

With Besse leaving, her position will need to be replaced. Final interviews with three candidates  were conducted at the high school on April 1 with a final decision to be made soon.

Besse believes someone who will be able to warm-up to teachers and students is the type of person who should replace her.

“Professionally, I want somebody who is going to commit and dedicate themselves to Pattonville like I think I have in terms of being here, being available and just getting the job done.”

Leaving the high school will be something hard for Besse to do. Being a high school teacher before coming to Pattonville High School and being a principal for 6 years, Besse said this will be her first time not being in a building with kids.

“I think I’ll dearly, dearly miss being around students every day.”

When asked what she liked most about the high school, Besse said the people including the parents, students, teachers, and the custodial staff.

“I’ve been able to grow here and it’s been because of the people that I worked with and worked for.”

She said her ability to grow and watch others grow is what drives her to be a better leader; to her it’s been inspiring and empowering.

“I’ll be sad to be out of the building and on to new things but I really enjoyed the people and opportunities I’ve had here.”