When Superintendent Cathy Mittlestadt gathered the “prize patrol,” made up of her cabinet, to award the Flagler Schools Principal and Assistant Principal of the Year, they didn’t have to go far.
The 2022–23 Assistant Principal of the Year for Flagler Schools is Donelle Evensen, assistant principal at Bunnell Elementary School. And the 2022–23 Principal of the Year for Flagler Schools is her boss, Bunnell Elementary Principal Marcus Sanfilippo.
“BES is making significant strides coming out of the pandemic, and Marcus and Donelle are two of the reasons this is happening,” says Superintendent Mittelstadt. “The two of them have also worked together to re-engage the people of the Bunnel areal with their community school, and that involvement is paramount to achieving success.”
Mrs. Evensen and Mr. Sanfillipo are no strangers to the “of the Year” honors here in Flagler Schools.
Marcus Sanfilippo was the 2007 District Teacher of the Year when he was a teacher at Buddy Taylor Middle School. He was named the District Assistant Principal of the Year in 2015 when he was at Indian Trails Middle School. This is his seventh year leading Bunnell Elementary. How did he get here? It’s been a journey. “I think just being part of a great team, the team here at BES with the wonderful support of our assistant principals, support from the district, and just being under other great leaders, having people model what it means to be a leader, and then just trying to exemplify that and live that out within the district.”
Donelle Evensen is in her fourth year as assistant principal at Bunnell Elementary. She was the 2019 District Teacher of the Year when she was at Rymfire Elementary. Reflecting on this most recent honor, Evensen says, “My goal as an assistant principal is to be supportive and be there for the teachers and students as much as possible in order to help them reach their potential. This is just a little validation that I’m on the right track.”
Both Evensen and Sanfilippo are graduates of Flagler-Palm Coast High School. They will now represent Flagler Schools in the statewide Principal and Assistant Principal of the Year program.
Cindy says
Dang… I retired one year too early to be part of this excitement!! But I am truly excited for them, They deserve it!!
Joe D says
With all the negative news and political arguments. It nice to celebrate GOOD news!
As the husband and father of two DEDICATED and COMMITTED public school teachers, parents have no idea how much teachers care about their students and how much of their lives ( in and outside of paid hours) are invested in maximizing their students’ potentials. Bravo for these local Flagler honorees!