Testimonials
Thank you, Dr. McGee, for your leadership and spirit over the years!
Thank you for always putting students first.
Thank you for your vision and beliefs that propelled us to be better teachers and a better school district.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom and passion about teaching and learning.
Thank you for supporting professional development.
Thank you for being a visible presence in our schools and participating in so many events.
Thank you for keeping teachers and parents in the loop through your creative weekly communications sharing our successes and how proud you were of what we were doing.
Thank you for listening and respecting different point of views.
Thank you for supporting innovation and creativity.
Thank you for your sincerity and honesty.
Thank you for taking responsibility when things didn’t go well.
Thank you for supporting students of color.
Thank you for honoring the social and emotional well-being of students.
Thank you for your welcoming smiles.
Thank you for sharing yourself and your family with us and reminding us what is most important.
These gifts will linger and support us as we strive to do our best to educate and care for ALL students.
Thank you, Dr. McGee!
— Susan Chakos
PAUSD elementary teacher for 35 years/Nixon Elementary School
I want to thank you for your commitment to all of our students and, specifically, for your support around mindfulness and social-emotional learning in PAUSD. I appreciate your passion for helping students feel safe and welcomed and ready for optimal learning at school. To this end, you provided an incredible gift to Barron Park in the way of lessons for all K-5 students that cultivated mindfulness, self-regulation, awareness of self and others, empathy, kindness and much more. These lessons foster social-emotional learning and guide children on their path toward SEL competencies. Additionally, this opportunity for a year of lessons supported teachers as they foster self-care, nurture positive classroom climates and integrate mindfulness practices into their existing curriculum. Teachers and students continue to talk about the power of those lessons and the mindful seeds that continue to grow within our community. Thank you for your passion, commitment, progressive mindset and heart you’ve shared with all of us here in PAUSD.
— Jennifer Harvey Ladinsky
Reading Specialist, Barron Park Elementary School
It is often hard to connect with administrators, but you have been a true inspiration. Your genuine joy, enthusiasm, and energy have made me feel supported and valued as a teacher, and fortunate to have a loving and close-knit family. You were able to embody the principles that I feel are so important to have in this time and age: compassion, honesty, faith, and hope.
— Maestra Anaí
Teacher and parent in PAUSD
I saw your support for the community for making mental health a topic that people could discuss, for bringing it out into the light. And I appreciate it. What we have to embrace in this community (and what PAUSD has embraced under your guidance) is teaching resilience. I thank you for that. I see it. It’s the single most important thing I want my kids to understand and to live by. […] All those sacrifices you made, that you made for a cause you believed in that was greater than yourself and your sacrifices – they matter. They matter to someone.