Pasco County Schools superintendent Kurt Browning will ask the school board to approve Jason Petry as the new principal of Sanders Memorial Elementary School, when it opens next year.
Petry, who is currently the principal of Lake Myrtle Elementary School in Land O’ Lakes, has been with the school district since 2002, according to a release. He started as an intermediate grade teacher at Deer Park Elementary School, and spent time at Quail Hollow Elementary School before becoming the third-grade teacher at Double Branch Elementary School.
Petry was named the assistant principal at Veterans Elementary School in Wesley Chapel in 2008, and continued there until getting promoted to his current job at Lake Myrtle in August 2011.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of South Florida in 2002, and his master’s at Saint Leo University in 2005.
Petry will take over the school Jan. 6, in preparation for Sanders’ opening in the fall.
Sanders will emphasize science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics — known as STEAM. It will draw largely from the Land O’ Lakes area, relieving overcrowding at Connerton Elementary School, officials said. Remaining seats would be open for students living outside the school’s normal boundaries.
Sanders will be located at 5126 School Road, and be almost entirely new. Just three of the former school’s buildings remain — the rest were demolished.
The school board will make a final decision on Petry’s appointment at its Nov. 18 meeting.
