Spring
Branch ISD’s 2015 Elementary and Secondary Principals of the Year were named by
district peers recently. They are Randolph Adami, the Northbrook High School
principal, and Robye Snyder, the campus leader at Hunters Creek Elementary
School.
The
two SBISD principals will be honored June 8 at the St. Regis Hotel during the
annual Principal Recognition Ceremony hosted by the Region 4 Education Service
Center.
Principals
Adami and Snyder earned top honors in the district’s 10th annual
school leadership recognition event, which is based on voting by principals.
Honorees are nominated by peers and must demonstrate the following qualities:
- Concern for all staff and students and the ability to
inspire both of these groups
- Ability and willingness to work cooperatively with all
staff and administrators
- Proven drive to initiate and implement effective
strategies supporting continuous improvement in student performance
- Ability to work with diverse community groups and all
district stakeholders
- Proven desire for continuous personal and professional
growth
- Ability and willingness to make meaningful
contributions to education
Northbrook
High Principal Randolph Adami
A
two-time SBISD Principal of the Year, Randolph Adami has led Northbrook High
School since 2004. He was named a district Principal of the Year in 2009, too.
He has served in SBISD for 27 years, all but three years as a principal or as
assistant principal.
A
native of Freer, Texas, a ranching and oil producing small town near Laredo,
Adami earned his bachelor of science degree in curriculum and instruction from
Texas A&M University in 1988. “I knew from the very start that I wanted to
be a teacher,” he says.
After
college, he joined the Spring Woods Middle School staff as a history and
English teacher, a position he held for three years. He then served four years
at Northbrook Middle School as an assistant principal.
From
1995 through 2000, Adami was an assistant principal at Spring Woods High
School. At Spring Oaks Middle School in May 2000, he was named principal, and
in 2004, he joined Northbrook High as its new principal.
While
working in SBISD, Adami earned his master’s degree in education from the
University of Houston in 1991. In addition, he completed the Harvard University
Principals’ Institute as well as the Rice Education Entrepreneur Program (REEP)
summer session program.
At
Spring Oaks Middle, his campus was recognized in 2003 and 2004with a Texas
Business and Educators Coalition (TBEC) Award for notable student academic
results, a high accomplishment.
Principal
Adami has worked to make Northbrook High School a student-focused organization
that provides a structured learning environment and post-secondary
opportunities for all students who attend the school.
“Being
given a set of keys to Northbrook High, one of the 250 biggest high schools in
the state was a huge responsibility, and that’s not a responsibility I take
lightly. I thought it was awesome when I was hired as a teacher in Spring
Branch, and to this day the favorite part of my job on a repeat basis is
graduation, shaking hands as the students walk across the stage,” Principal
Adami says.
He
doesn’t take a repeat recognition as Principal of the Year lightly, either. “I
was very shocked to be named,” he says. “Coming from other principals, I’m
humbled and honored by their thinking of me, especially when you think of all
the great and incredible work that they do.”
Principal
Adami and his wife, Katie, who works in the computer industry, are the proud
parents of three children, including Justin, a recent graduate of Texas A&M
University; Ryan, who also attends A&M; and Cara, who is an eighth-grader.
The couple has been married 26 years.
When
not working at Northbrook High, Randolph likes to spend part of his time as a
part-time rancher in South Texas.
Hunters
Creek Elementary Principal Robye Snyder
Principal
Robye Snyder knows Spring Branch well, having attended Hollibrook Elementary,
Spring Branch Junior High and Memorial High. She plans to attend Memorial
High’s 40th reunion this summer.
A
graduate of Texas A&M University, she began her journey in Texas education
with a Bachelor of Science degree in education. After graduation, she taught
third grade for four years in Bryan ISD.
In
Katy ISD, she taught first grade for four years at Mayde Creek Elementary, and
then joined Spring Branch ISD, where she has either taught or served in
leadership at four campuses – Ridgecrest, Cedar Brook, Meadow Wood and Hunters
Creek.
Principal
Snyder’s deep teaching and leadership resume includes these highlights: Reading
Specialist, 5 years; Third-Grade English as a Second Language (ESL), 1 year;
Reading Recovery/Kindergarten or Literacy Support, 6 years; Kindergarten, ½
year; Administrative Intern, 1 year; Assistant Principal, 6.5 years; and
Principal, 7 years.
Most
recently, she has served as principal at Hunters Creek and Meadow Wood
elementary schools.
Her
additional education includes a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction
and reading from Texas A&M University; all coursework for ESL certification
at Houston Baptist University; a Reading Recovery certification from the
University of Houston at Clear Lake; Principal certification through the UH’s
Spring Branch Corporate University; and both selection for and graduation from
Rice University Educational Entrepreneurship Program, or REEP.
In
addition to the Principal Certification, she holds life provisional
certifications in the following areas: Elementary General and Reading;
Kindergarten; Supervisor; and Reading Specialist.
Principal
Snyder is a member of several professional groups: the Texas Council of Women
School Executives; Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association; and
REEP-related Rice Educational Entrepreneurship Alumni Group. For several years,
she was an independent national literacy consultant, too.
Recent
election by her peers as a district Principal of the Year marks another high
point in her career.
“I
was surprised and a bit overwhelmed when it was announced at the [recent]
Elementary Principal’s meeting that I was the Principal of the Year. I am
blessed to have a career in SBISD where I’m surrounded by some of the best
educational leaders in the business,” she says.
“I’ve
had my horizon broadened widely by participation in the REEP program and this
past February participating in the Raise Your Hand Texas Campus to Congress
Conference. I’ve met and worked with school leaders from around the
state,” she adds.
Principal
Snyder says that SBISD school leaders are the best in the state, and she means
what she says with great candor and fidelity. “We all learn from each other,
grow through struggles together, and support each other at every turn of the
way. I am proud and honored to represent all the wonderful principals in
SBISD,” she says.
Principal
Snyder is the proud parent of one adult son, Brandon, a graduate of the
University of Denver, and one precious puppy, Twinkie. She travels often to see
Brandon, who has made his home and career in the mountains of Crested Butte,
Colo., where she is learning to fly fish and loves to enjoy the snow.
Wooooow, Yes, Mrs. Snyder is very worried for her students and teachers.
ReplyDeleteWhen I go to HCE Elementary school, I always see her working and greeting parents. I'm very proud to have my son studying in that school under directions of Mrs Snyder.
The award is well deserved for you Mrs Snyder.
Thank you so much for everything.
Richard Pineda