New Sunset Park Elementary principal returns to her roots

WINDERMERE — Carol Russ has been a fixture at Sunset Park Elementary ever since the school was opened to the Windermere community in 2007. But after 34 years of service for Orange County Public Schools, Russ decided to retire. Her last day at Sunset Park was Dec. 19.

“She was just loved by this community, so I had some big shoes to fill,” said Janet Zweifel Bittick, who was hired as the new principal and started the position Jan. 5.

THE NEW LEADER

Education was an obvious choice for Janet Bittick, whose sister is a teacher in Michigan and whose grandmother was a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse in Illinois.

“I love children, and I learned early on that I love working with kids,” she said. “I was so fortunate while I was (a student) at West Orange High School; I did an executive internship program through OCPS while a senior. I worked with an amazing teacher (Patty Goonen) at Windermere Elementary School, and that really confirmed that this is what I wanted to do.”

When Bittick was hired in December, she gave the community a chance to meet her.

She set out to meet everyone at the school, as well, visiting every classroom and introducing herself to all of the teachers and staff to “get a little bit of face time with them,” she said.

Parents also have been given an opportunity to speak with the principal, who has held about six round-table discussions with them.

“It’s an opportunity to tell me what they love about the school, what they don’t love that they would like for us to look at, maybe things we don’t have that they would like to see about us getting,” she said. “I’ve done a lot of that community building … that’s really my big focus right now. And that will lead me into what are our next steps for our school.”

Parents have told her they want to see more activities for them “to create that community feel,” Bittick said.

She said Sunset Park has enjoyed active involvement from the parents. She encourages open and frequent communication, emailing weekly newsletters with information and fliers attached so parents are always up-to-date on what’s going on at their child’s school.

The next step for the principal is to measure the school district’s expectations against what the school is achieving.

“I want to ensure we’re meeting them at the highest level possible that really ensures the children are getting what they need,” Bittick said.

Prior to accepting the assignment at Sunset Park Elementary, Bittick served as principal of West Creek Elementary in Orlando for four years. Before that, she was a principal for 13 years in California. She said she returned to Central Florida to be closer to family and to raise her own children here. She lives in Windermere and has a son and daughter who both attend Bridgewater Middle School.

Bittick graduated from West Orange High in 1988 and earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education and her master’s degree in educational leadership at the University of Central Florida. One of her first positions in education was as a second-grade teacher at Lake Whitney Elementary the year it opened.

In California, she needed further administrative credentials and attended California State University Fullerton for two years. She graduated from a leadership academy while on the West Coast, as well.

Contact Amy Quesinberry Rhode at [email protected].