Pine View Assistant Principal Kate Marcotte has decided to end her journey at Pine View. For these past 10 years, she has been working in the education system. She made many memories at Pine View and met many people along the way.
After this year at Pine View, Marcotte will become a family mediator. In this capacity, she is going to be supporting families and helping them grow. She is looking forward to helping families in any challenges they are facing and aid them when they make difficult decisions. Marcotte hopes that her experience working at Pine View will help in this new job.
“If I’m being honest, a part of me feels like I will be leaving behind a piece of me that’s going to create this giant hole in my heart. But I suppose that this is the way change works, and maybe that hole is needed so it can make room for the new families that I’m going to meet,” she said while explaining how she felt about leaving Pine View.
Even though Marcotte’s time at Pine View has been short, she made many memories along the way that she won’t forget. One of her favorite memories was of Spirit Week, when school spirit was at its highest. People dressed in vivid clothing to match various themes. On the last day of Spirit Week, freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors competed in dodgeball.
“I will never forget high school Spirit Week and the culminating event of high school Spirit Week, the dodgeball game — leading up to that game was just so much fun. The hype on campus with the classes coming together in the quad, the seniors parading through the cheering and rallying. It was nothing like I have ever experienced as an administrator,” Marcotte said.
Guidance counselor Ashley Byington also shared a memory with Marcotte. Near Christmas, on Ugly Sweater Day, several of the staff at Pine View wore very unique and colorful sweaters. Marcotte was one of the many staff who participated, and she wore a very unique sweater.
“She wore this Christmas sweater that had a dinosaur on it, like a stuffed animal dinosaur with it’s upper torso on the front and on the back it had the tail, and it literally stuck out from her shirt,” Byington said. “I was sitting here in my office one day and out of the corner of my eye, I just saw her really slowly going past my door like a dinosaur, just being really goofy.”
Before Marcotte came to Pine View, she was an assistant principal at several other schools and was also a teacher at Venice Middle School. Marcotte said she found that the students at Pine View were very inspiring.
“I have worked at several schools, and I can say with certainty that there is no other school like [Pine View]. I’ve had the joy of working with students who, aside from being incredibly, highly intelligent, are passionate, creative, witty — you name it. Our students are incredible advocates,” Marcotte said. “They’re fearless to take a stand and they’re relentless when it comes to facing obstacles. I am so impressed with how involved our students are and the integral role that each one plays in shaping the community and culture of Pine View. It really and truly is inspiring.”
During Marcotte’s time at Pine View, she learned many things that have helped her. Many of the things that she learned were from the students at Pine View — one of which being that students had a very important role to play in the school setting.
“Student voice is essential. I have learned that when students play an active role in the school community in their part of the decision making process and the outcomes, that we have better outcomes for everyone and are better equipped to serve and meet the needs of our students,” Marcotte said.
According to Byington, along with helping students, Marcotte also helped Pine View a lot.
“She brought a breath of fresh air to Pine View because she’s got a lot of energy, and she really enjoys interacting with people and being social. She really enjoys supporting other people and connecting with those people and making sure that they know that she’s there as a resource for them,” Byington said.
Even though Marcotte is leaving Pine View, she is thankful for all the memories she has from working here. She wishes the new assistant principal well and hopes they can make memories here, too.
“This place really is like no other. And whoever comes in my place is going to learn so much about all of the working parts of a highly effective school,” Marcotte said. “My advice would be to ask questions, listen and learn. There is just so much history here in our communities, rich with stories.”