Gorrie Principal Says Goodbye

HYDE PARK NORTH - When Principal Susan Foster retires June 30, she will have spent 28 of her 38 years in education at Gorrie Elementary School.

"This is my home and my heart," Foster said. "There are children of the children I taught here. I can't imagine not being here in my community."

Foster's first experience with Gorrie was as an intern in 1968, when there were wood floors, open stairwells and a grand piano in the lobby. As a first- and sixth-grade teacher in the 1970s, she saw the school's renovation, including the addition of air conditioning and the cementing over of windows.

In 1989, Foster became assistant principal. In 1995, she was promoted to principal; three years later the school earned the National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence certification.

About a decade later, Foster watched another renovation, this time the opening up of the cemented windows.

"I don't think anything has affected the school as much as opening the windows," said Foster, 61.

Parents and faculty at the 570-student school beg to differ.

"Susan's retirement will be a big loss for the school," parent Dawn Morrill said. "It's going to be so hard to see her go. She's phenomenal. She knows every kid by name."

Claudia Washington, who spent about 25 years at Gorrie in various roles, including custodian, lunchroom lady and teacher's aide, attended a farewell reception Tuesday morning at the school, 705 W. DeLeon St., to pay tribute to Foster.

"She's a beautiful, kind and gentle person," Washington said. "She's like a hammer and a wrench. She can just look at something and do it."

Foster never doubted that she would become an educator.

"As a little girl I loved to play school," she said. "I had no other plans. It was my focus."

She was raised in upstate New York and attended the University of Tampa and the University of South Florida. She and her husband, Lance, have two daughters, both Gorrie alumni.

Saying goodbye to her passion is unfamiliar territory, although the opportunity to spend time with her mother and granddaughter are silver linings, as are the free time to play golf and not having to set her alarm for 5:30 a.m.

"I have not had a day that I haven't cried," Foster said. "I really don't know what to expect."

Fifth-grader Lydia Kriseman, 11, has been at Gorrie since kindergarten and will attend Wilson Middle School in the fall. She was looking forward to coming back to Gorrie as a volunteer and seeing Foster.

"It's upsetting that she's going to not be here," Lydia said. "She's so nice. I'm definitely going to miss her. She really made an impact on everything we did."

Foster has some advice for her replacement, Marjorie Sandler, principal of Folsom Elementary: ease up slightly on the reins.

"You don't have to run this building. You set a role model for it and set the expectations very high," Foster said. "There isn't anything these teachers wouldn't do to ensure their students' success.

"It truly is a family," she said. "You walk in and it's a true, neighborhood family school."