Simpson, Two Rock principal, honored for service

Michael Simpson received the Excellence in Education award.|

At the end of a 37-year career in education, Michael Simpson, the superintendent and principal of Two Rock Elementary School, has received the Excellence in Education award at the 2015 Petaluma Community Awards of Excellence.

“I feel honored and encouraged,” said Simpson, who is retiring at the end of the school year. “Because I work hard to try to do the best that I can for the benefit of the students and staff. There are many great administrators in this area, and to be selected was very humbling.”

Spurred by the birth of three grandchildren in the last five months, Simpson has decided to leave education to spend more time with family, including his wife, a recently retired registered nurse with Kaiser Permanente.

For the last seven years, Simpson has been superintendent and principal of Two Rock Elementary School. Before that, he served as principal and assistant principal at Petaluma High School. Prior to his arrival in California, Simpson worked and lived in Vermont and New York.

Simpson’s approach to education has been to engage students with their skills. In 2004, the Future Farmers of America awarded Simpson with the Star Administrator Award for his support of technical programs within Petaluma High.

Simpson said he saw opportunities for a number of students who were not necessarily on a college track. Programs like wood, auto or metal shop offered alternative career paths.

He takes the same approach to elementary school, putting the future of his students first.

“Our goal is to support every student and provide opportunities for those students to be successful no matter what it takes,” he said. “Regardless of what level they are at when they come to us, our job is to provide them with educational support and programs that will ready them for the next grade and ultimately for junior high school and then the future.”

Simpson said there was a moment this past year which exemplifies the success this approach has had. At the annual Walker Creek Ranch outdoor education camp, a sixth grade program, Two Rock Elementary School made its presence felt. The recruitment of former participants, who are now juniors and seniors in high school, return to Walker Creek as cabin leaders. Of the dozen cabin leaders, nine were Two Rock graduates.

“It was very encouraging to remember them as former Two Rock students,” Simpson said. “They are almost ready to finish high school and having such a profound effect on our current students. It is a reflection of their parents and teachers, but also the teachers at Two Rock.”

Simpson knew he wanted to embark on a career in education while in college, but he first got work as an emergency medical technician in New York, a job he said was one of the most unique in his life.

After receiving a master’s degree from New York University, he began his educational career in 1978 as a special education teacher in New York.

He then moved to Vermont where he spent the next 22 years.

Outside of education, Simpson is involved with community service. He is a board member of the Petaluma Music Festival and sits on the advisory board for Friends of the Petaluma River.

“I feel fortunate to be part of this community we live in,” he said. “Both from an educational standpoint, but also as a citizen of this great town and Sonoma County. It is a wonderful place to live and I am very appreciative that I am here and that I have had this opportunity.”

(Contact Joshua Gutier rez at argus@arguscourier.com.)

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