The Principals' Center
Established in 1985, the Principals’ Center exists to help principals meet the challenges of their role as school leaders and provides a forum for them to meet in a congenial atmosphere and share the skills and practices that have proven successful in the school setting.
The Greater Capital Region Principals’ Center is a dynamic professional resource for area administrators, designed as an oasis of training for improvement and renewal of administrative skills and energies.
Established in 1985, the Principals’ Center exists to help principals meet the challenges of their role as school leaders and provides a forum for them to meet in a congenial atmosphere and share the skills and practices that have proven successful in the school setting. By bringing together new and veteran administrators, the Principals’ Center can help develop and improve on those critical skills needed for effective leadership, including problem solving, decision making, managing resources, and leading by example.
The Principals’ Center serves principals specifically, and administrative groups in general. It is a network for tapping professional knowledge so that the exceptional strengths of those principals in the field practicing daily can be utilized as resources to help and aid others working in the profession.
The programs of the Principals’ Center are run to benefit principals, and, in large part, are run by principals. The Principals’ Center works to strengthen the variety of skills a principal needs to effectively master in order to meet the challenges of the principalship and seeks to establish itself as a catalyst for establishing excellence in those individuals who carry the title “Principal.”
2024-2025 Principals' Center Board Roster
Michael Laster, Chair
Principal, Farnsworth Middle School
lasterm@guilderlandschools.net
Erica J. Ryan, Vice-Chair
Principal, Shatekon Elementary School
Mark Brenneman
Principal, Montgomery C. Smith Elementary
Francis Cocozza
Principal, Lake George Jr.-Sr. High School
cocozzaf@lkgeorge.org
Rosalind Gaines-Harrell
Principal, Arbor Hill Elementary School
rgaines-harrell@albany.k12.ny.us
Amy Hawrylchak
Principal, Tech Valley High School
ahawrylchak@techvalleyhigh.org
Ian Knox
Principal, Hamagrael Elementary School
iknox@bethlehemschools.org
Annette Landry
Principal, Berne-Knox-Westerlo Elementary
annette.landry@bkwschools.org
Gregory Pace
Principal, Tesago Elementary School
Carrie Phelan
Principal, Knickerbacker Middle School
cphelan@lansingburgh.org
Shelette R. Pleat
Principal, Hamilton Elementary School
PleateS@apps.schenectady.k12.ny.us
Brian Reeve
Principal, Greenville Central School District
Katie Stalker
Principal, Mater Christi School
principal@mcsalbany.org
Laura Tarlo
Principal, Cohoes High School
lttarlo@cohoes.org
Aaron Thiell
Principal, North Colonie Central School District
aaron.thiell@nccsk12.org
Melanie Welch
Principal, Frankfort-Schuyler Elementary School
mwelch@frankfort-schuyler.org
Central Office Administrators
TBD
Higher Education Representative
Dr. Katie Schiller
Department of Educational Policy and Leadership, Catskill 301
University at Albany
Dr. Kristen Wilcox
Department of Educational Policy and Leadership, Catskill 229
University at Albany
CASDA Representatives
Timothy Backus
Executive Director
Nancy Andress
CASDA Faculty, Liaison to Principal Center Board
nandress@albany.edu
Bryan Wood
CASDA Consultant