Dear Manzanita Families and Community Members,

The staff and I would like to welcome you to the Manzanita Elementary School, home of the Dragons, website. We are an all-day kindergarten through 5th grade school with a 48-year tradition of academic excellence and an established team of positive, outstanding educators. I am excited and honored to have been selected as your new principal.

A little about my background… I spent my early years on the East Coast, moved to northern Michigan and graduated from Michigan State University. I then worked in fast food management for twelve years. Looking for a more personally rewarding career, I returned to school at Northern Michigan University and received my elementary teaching certificate.

After teaching there for a year, my husband and I moved to Bullhead City where I taught 4th-6th grades over nine years. I also obtained my Masters in Elementary Education and Reading endorsement from NAU. The next three years were spent as Black Mountain’s Reading Coach until I accepted the assistant principal position at Mt. Tipton. Three years later I moved into the same position at White Cliffs Middle School, and now have the pleasure to be here at Manzanita. I am a motorcycle enthusiast and love to travel, especially to see our daughter and grandson in Michigan’s beautiful Upper Peninsula.

Clint Keller is joining us as Assistant Principal. He was born and raised in Kingman and went to Palo Christi School. He worked in the electronics field for twenty-seven years, including seven years maintaining and building arcade games and pinball machines. Clint has been in education for sixteen years: seven as a high school science teacher, three in high school administration and six in elementary administration at Cerbat.

Mr. Keller’s hobbies are reading, video games, and astronomy. His wife has been teaching for 25 year, 10 of those here at Manzanita. They have two boys, Dana, 25, is getting his Masters in Library Science in Boston to be an archivist and Kyle, 22, just graduated from NAU with a BA in English.

At Manzanita we strive to provide students with a friendly and supportive environment, rigorous academic curriculum based on the state and national Common Core standards, and support services designed to address the individual differences among our learners. We take pride in nurturing a child’s natural curiosity and desire to grow. As you will see, students enjoy rich opportunities to develop their talents and skills including: plays, gifted classes, 5th grade band, after-school tutoring, chess club, Accelerated Reader, and Study Island.

We believe that every child can learn, but only with a strong partnership between the school and the student’s family can a child reach his/her full potential. We encourage parents to develop a relationship with their child’s teacher early on. Electronic access to student grades and progress reports can facilitate this, as can on–campus family activities such as: movie nights, Spring and Fall festivals, ice cream socials, and various fundraisers. We also invite you to help in your child’s classroom or just come in and say hi! We would love to see you.

I look forward to a successful year of working with you and your child. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions concerning your child’s education at the Manzanita.

Respectfully,

Joyce Pietri Principal