Courtney Monterecy

Mary E. Fogarty Elementary School
Providence School District
Cranston, Rhode Island
courtney.monterecy@ppsd.org

Courtney Monterecy’s six-year leadership has been transformational for Mary E. Fogarty Elementary. In the years prior to Monterecy’s principalship, Fogarty was known as the “lowest performing school,” with consistently low ELA and math scores, and it had an hapless revolving door of administrators. Rebuilding the school from the ground up, Monterecy has been a true agent of change for Fogarty. With her consistent and focused leadership, Monterecy has been able to institute regular school routines, gather staff to analyze data, maximize instructional support, and implement a blended learning model in all classrooms. Thanks to her efforts, in 2019, Fogarty was taken out of Transformation. In 2018, Monterecy executed the formidable task of becoming an Empowerment school, a designation that required Monterecy to write a grant that was supported by 70 percent of the faculty. Organizing staff-wide working sessions, Monterecy was able to achieve an 80-percent approval rate from her staff and ultimately was awarded Empowerment status. Not only is Monterecy laser focused on school improvement, her building and mentorship also serve as an incubator for future leaders in education. Her assistants and mentees have moved on to attain principalship roles, and her fierce advocacy and support resulted in one of her teachers winning a Milken Education Award. Monterecy holds an M.A. in Education Administration from Providence College, an ESL Certification from Rhode Island College, and a B.A. from Rollins College.