Sandoval’s new grade school principal is a familiar face having spent the past 20 years at the school since shortly after graduating from college.
Angie Pate served as a special education teacher her first 16 years, became special education coordinator four years ago, and added the assistant principal title two years ago. Pate likes working at Sandoval because it is close knit community where everyone knows each other.
“We’re kind of wanting to move as a K-12 district instead of just building-to-building,” Pate said. “I will say I work pretty closely with our principal out at the junior-senior high making sure that things are smooth. We want to have a good environment that we work in, make sure our kids are safe when they come to school and enjoy their time when they are here, and have a good learning experience.”
Pate feels her background in special education will help.
“Working with the special ed and having that background makes it a lot easier to work with behavior kids when they’re having little meltdowns and help them get back on track. I think I’ll be able to really bring my expertise into that level and help all of our teachers and hopefully get our kiddos that are struggling with some of their behaviors now and then, just keeping them afloat and making sure that they’re learning.”
Pate takes over for Adam Hanks, who resigned to become a principal in the Brownstown School District.
