It’s double duty for Oro Valley principal this school year | News

Stephanie Hillig is performing double duty this school year.

Hillig, starting her fourth year as principal at Copper Creek Elementary School, has also taken the leadership position at Painted Sky Elementary School.

Principal Bethany Papajohn left Painted Sky at the end of last school year. In the face of declining district enrollments, and the accompanying reduction in state-provided revenue, Amphitheater Public Schools leadership combined the two positions.

Copper Creek and Painted Sky are “six miles apart, door to door,” in Oro Valley, Hillig said.

While she’ll make the drive frequently, Hillig won’t be going it alone.

Instructional support assistant Sandy Walden can help with “the day to day” duties on each campus. Instructional coaches at the two schools can help support new teachers, implement instructional strategies, analyze data, oversee testing and conduct student interventions. Oversight of staff and budgets at both schools “will still fall on me.”

Hillig has “amazing administrative assistants at both schools,” she said. “They’ll be keeping me where I need to be.”

To date, two weeks before the first day of school, “It’s been pretty smooth,” Hillig said. “This is going to be manageable, and a great step for us as a district to take.”

It helps that both Copper Creek and Painted Sky are high-achieving schools, each earning an “A” rating from the Arizona Department of Education based on student test scores. Painted Sky is in fact the highest-ranked elementary school in Pima County, according to the Amphi website.

“I know our teachers are doing the right things in both schools,” Hillig said. “Our students are performing, and having a balanced life. Students love coming to school here.”

Hillig and Papajohn were “really tight friends,” collaborative, and aligned on the implementation of instructional strategies and programs. “I’m very comfortable with where Painted Sky and Copper Creek are, and taking both of them forward,” Hillig said.

That said, “We don’t want them to become one entity,” Hillig said. “We have very different cultures. We want to make sure we keep our independence, and our cultures.”

Students arrive at each campus for the first day of school on Wednesday, Aug. 6. It might be hectic for Hillig, but she’s excited for it.

“Because Painted Sky is my newer community,” she’ll be there to both start and finish school Aug. 6. In between, Hillig plans to be in every classroom at both sites. “I’ll get my steps in.” 

Walden, who has been at Copper Creek more than 20 years, is greeting students on that campus Aug. 6. “She’s very comfortable here, and knows a lot of the families,” Hillig said.

Hillig, starting her 31st year in K-12 education, has been a principal at the high school, middle school, and elementary school levels. Her casual, summertime shirt reads “Principal,” in big letters. “The students are my why,” it concludes.

She’s particularly fond of the youngest.

“It’s just a lot of fun,” she said. Kids that age “are so sweet, so full of life and energy. At 7:10 a.m., they just have a smile on their face. There’s so much joy at an elementary school, you just can’t help but love it, the joy and the growth I see in these kids.”

Hillig hears the chatter about teacher pay, and the challenges of public schools. “At the same time, it is a blessing,” she said. “I love what I do, with the kids and with the staff I have. There is no more fulfilling job than to be in education.”

“You can’t beat this,” she said of Amphi, “and we show it in wonderful, different ways.”