PI Principal Jane Hamburger named 'Administrator Of The Year'

Warwick - Jane Hamburger, who will retired as principal of Pine Island Elementary School at the end of the school year, has been named the 2011 “Administrator of the Year” by the Empire State Supervisors and Administrators Association. Nominated by her colleagues in the Warwick Valley Administrators Association, Hamburger has been employed by the Warwick Valley School District for 29 years; seven years as a teacher of elementary talented and gifted and 22 years as an administrator. Her administrative duties, besides being Pine Island’s principal, included Staff Development Coordinator and Coordinator of K-5 Music and Art Programs. Some highlights of her accomplishments as an administrator include her work within the Pine Island community, which resulted in her being named as the 2001 Pine Island Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year and, in 2004, receiving a Certificate of Appreciation from the Mid-Hudson Migrant Education Outreach Program. At her school building, Hamburger was responsible for many projects, including the “Go Green, Go Healthy” Program, the student-run garden from which fresh vegetables were harvested and used for sauce and salsa in the cafeteria. Her efforts in this area have resulted in not only having a salad bar in her own school, but in each of the other three elementary schools in the district. “As Ms. Hamburger retires this year,” reads the nomination form, “it is only fitting that we not only recognize her accomplishments as a building principal, but all of the programs and care she has given to her students in the past twenty-nine years in Warwick.” Hamburger has been invited by the Empire State Supervisors and Administrators Association to a ceremony to take place in Albany in June as she receives this distinguished recognition.