Cathey A. Bugg

Heritage Elementary School
Edmond Public Schools
Edmond, Oklahoma
cathey.bugg@edmondschools.net

In her two-decades-strong career in leadership, Cathey A. Bugg has come to see vision as “one of the most powerful tools” available to educators to help child and adult learners “picture where they can go, what they can become.” Bugg has exemplified this wisdom in her successful leadership as principal of Heritage Elementary School, which became just the second school in the country to attain Great Expectations Model School status in its first year of operation in 2015. As the school’s first principal, Bugg was involved in every aspect of creating and opening the school, from participating in its design to recruiting and retaining its teaching staff. Each of her leadership roles was guided by a community-oriented approach to cultivating vision. Bugg sought direct contributions from stakeholders to develop the school’s formal mission, vision, and values and met with teachers regularly prior to the school’s opening to determine what they wanted the school to become. The result is a school culture built on high expectations for learning and respect, where a theme-based instruction approach blends authentic learning principles with data-driven and technology-based practices. Throughout her career, Bugg has scaled her impact by developing multiple junior administrators into full-time principals and many teachers into assistant principals and counselors. She holds Elementary Education and Principal Certifications, an M.Ed. in Elementary Administration, and a B.A. with distinction, all from the University of Oklahoma.