'It’s quite humbling': Meet Flagler Schools' Principal and Assistant Principal of the Year
Two Bunnell Elementary School administrators have been named the 2022-23 Principal and Assistant Principal of the Year for Flagler Schools.
Principal Marcus Sanfilippo and Assistant Principal Donelle Evensen were selected out of Flagler Schools’ five elementary schools, two middle schools and two high schools, and both are graduates of Flagler-Palm Coast High School themselves.
Sanfilippo and Evensen say the community feeling of the district’s schools, as well as Flagler County itself, has kept them in the district, and being able to positively impact the students and community keeps them going.
They will both be up for Principal of the Year and Assistant Principal of the year at the statewide level and represent Flagler Schools at other state functions.
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“BES is making significant strides coming out of the pandemic, and Marcus and Donelle are two of the reasons this is happening,” Superintendent Cathy Mittelstadt said in a press release, noting they have worked together to re-engage the Bunnell community, which is “paramount to achieving success.”
Both honorees graduated from Flagler-Palm Coast High School
Sanfilippo moved to Flagler County when he was 15 and graduated from Flagler-Palm Coast High School in 1991 before attending Daytona Beach Community College, followed by the University of North Florida in Jacksonville for his bachelor’s degree and Stetson University in DeLand for his master’s degree.
Sanfilippo married his wife in 1993 and raised his family in Palm Coast, which he attributes as a reason for staying in Flagler County, along with Flagler Schools being an “amazing” school district.
He started at Buddy Taylor Middle School in 1999, where he worked for 13 years in various roles, including as a math teacher, dean and assistant principal. He was an assistant principal at Indian Trails Middle School for three years and is now in his seventh year at Bunnell Elementary School as principal.
Sanfilippo was also recognized as 2007 District Teacher of the Year while at BTMS and 2015 District Assistant Principal of the Year while at ITMS.
"It’s quite humbling,” he said of the recent award. “It’s quite exhilarating. It’s nice to see that your peers, your supervisors, those above you recognize the hard work and dedication that you have.”
The district’s leadership team selects the Principal of the Year. Mittelstadt and her cabinet visited Sanfilippo and Evensen on Monday to surprise them with balloons, flowers and cake.
Evensen, who was nominated for Assistant Principal of the Year by Sanfilippo, moved to Palm Coast before ninth grade and graduated from FPC in 2002.
She moved to the Panhandle to complete her two-year degree at Chipola College and then to Orlando to study at University of Central Florida, before backpacking through Europe for 10 weeks and returning to Flagler Schools.
She started at Rymfire Elementary in 2006 and worked in roles as a first-grade, third-grade, special education and intervention teacher, as well as a reading coach, assistant principal and teacher support colleague before becoming assistant principal at Bunnell in 2019. She was named 2019 District Teacher of the Year while at Rymfire and has master's degrees from Walden University and Stetson.
Evensen knew she would return to Flagler County to be closer to her family — her younger brother, who has Down syndrome, inspired her to become a teacher and pursue special education.
“My brother had a lot of difficulties just as an ESE (Exceptional Student Education) student and he needed a lot of support,” she said. “I wanted to be that person that was the support for the students that needed additional interventions or additional opportunities.”
Administrators helped Bunnell through pandemic, focus on special education
While Evensen oversees the entire school, she has a special focus in the ESE department and curriculum instruction.
One of the first things she did at BES was implement “high support” classes focused on students who are below grade level and need additional support and intervention to catch up.
She also started “PUP” time, which stands for "promoting unlimited progress," 30 minutes a day four days a week. This is a time for students to work on specific skills with teachers if they are below grade level, or to go deeper into instruction and challenge themselves if they are at or above grade level.
Another focus of Evensen’s has been phonics instruction in younger grades to strengthen reading abilities from a young age and instruct teachers how to better teach students in this area.
“I just feel honored to have the opportunity to represent Flagler Schools,” she said. “My intent has never been to get an award. My passion is to support teachers and give them whatever it is that they need in order to be the best teacher that they can be, and in doing so, that also supports our students to be the best students that they can be.”
Sanfilippo also attributed Bunnell’s representation in the two awards to work they have been doing in the community during the past few years.
“That parent involvement is such a positive aspect for Bunnell Elementary School because the parents during COVID, and the families and the communities, saw what the teachers were doing, what the students were doing, and it helped bring us together closer instead of pulling apart,” he said.
He said they held many events at community centers and locations rather than the school to better connect with families.
Drive-thru events also helped build relationships with families and make them more comfortable speaking with school staff and administration.
Bunnell Elementary is the only Flagler County school in Bunnell — all but one other school are in Palm Coast — and draws students from a wide geographic area, including the western and southern portions of the county. It also serves students and families of unique socioeconomic backgrounds. Data from the 2020 American Community Survey estimate 26% of Bunnell’s population live below the poverty level.
Flagler schools are like families
Sanfilippo said that one individual does not move a school in the right direction, so the accomplishments are recognition of his whole team working to support the school and community.
“It's quite an experience to be part of something bigger than you,” he said, noting how positive attitudes can have an impact on the school and community.
Sanfilippo says it does speak to the school district's quality that both he and Evensen were graduates and stayed to work there.
“I think our school district is on the right trajectory with what we've been doing over the years trying to educate our students, trying to get our community involved, working on the academic successes,” he said.
He says there are many other Flagler graduates who are now teachers, counselors and other staff members within the district.
“Our county feels big for the people who are here, but it really isn't that big,” Evensen said. “It's a family, and I think that each one of our schools builds a family culture not only for the people who work there, but for the students as well, and I think we provide good opportunities for those who want to stay in the family.”
Even in a school of around 1,100 students, Evensen says she tries to learn all of the students' names.
“Each and every one of them deserves to feel that they're coming to a place where we care about them and we want them to be the best that they can be and that we're here to help them do that,” she said. “What gets me out of bed every day is knowing that I can change someone's viewpoint today, and that could affect their tomorrow.”
Contact reporter Danielle Johnson at djohnson@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Bunnell administrators are Flagler Principal, Asst. Principal of Year
