Meet Incoming PMS Principal Ryan Fletcher: Skier, Snowboarder, Expectant Dad

Late summer will be a time of change for Ryan Fletcher — a new job, the birth of his first child and likely a move to a new home in the East Bay.

Fletcher's appointment as the new principal of Piedmont Middle School was announced Wednesday night at the meeting of the Piedmont Unified School District's Board of Education. He takes over July 1 from Jeanne Donovan, who is retiring.

Piedmont Patch talked with Fletcher by phone Thursday about the man behind the credentials (bachelor's and master's degrees in education, four years as an assistant principal in Palo Alto, seven years of classroom teaching).

Fletcher has a lot of "first things" coming up, he said immediately. One of those, of course, is his new job.

"I'm so excited about forging new relationships in the community," Fletcher said. So many people welcomed and congratulated him at the school board meeting that he and his wife, Laura Fletcher, drove home "with big smiles on our faces," he said.

Fletcher said he was drawn to the Piedmont Middle School job because of the PUSD's stance on academic excellence and community involvement, two things he has experienced, and enjoyed, while working in Palo Alto schools.

Another first will be the arrival of a new baby, the couple's first child, expected in August. Fletcher said he and Laura are looking forward to moving to the East Bay partly because that will place them closer to the nearest set of grandparents, who live in Roseville. They haven't started house-hunting yet, but that's definitely "one of the first things," he said.

The timing of the new job, the move and the baby's arrival is good, he added, because Laura is just finishing up a master's degree in counseling psychology, with an emphasis on marriage and family therapy, from Santa Clara University. She previousy did therapy with adolescents at a South Bay high school.

Away from work and school, Fletcher said, "I'm very active — sometimes my wife thinks too active." He skis, snowboards, hikes and surfs, and, when not moving at a fast clip, enjoys seeing live music performances.

A California native, Fletcher was born in Santa Monica but moved from the Los Angeles area to rural Vermont just before starting high school — an experience he called "culture shock."

"But I ended up falling in love with Vermont," he said, "and the Univesity of Vermont has an excellent program in education — I was in the classroom as early as my freshman year."

Fletcher returned to the West Coast after college and taught in East Palo Alto before moving to the Palo Alto Unified School District. He has taught both elementary and middle school grades, including sixth grade math and science.

Fletcher will be hand to welcome students to Piedmont Middle School when they return to classes on Aug. 21.

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