The Shoreham-Wading River School District welcomes Patricia Nugent to the position of Principal of Briarcliff Elementary School.
     
Ms. Nugent comes to the community from the Riverhead Central School District, where she served as an elementary and middle school assistant principal. Ms. Nugent has an extensive reading instruction background. Through a Reading First grant, she previously worked as a coordinator for reading in the South Country School District. In addition, she formerly taught reading in the Smithtown School District and was a Reading Recovery teacher for first-grade students in the Huntington School District. For most of her professional career, Ms. Nugent was an elementary education teacher and taught third, fifth, and sixth- grade students in the Huntington School District, as well as kindergarten in the Woodhull Early Childhood Center in Huntington. .   
     
Ms. Nugent holds a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from SUNY Old Westbury and an Associate’s Degree in Advertising, Art, and Design from SUNY Farmingdale. She also earned two master’s degrees, one in Reading from Dowling College and another in School Building Administration from St. John’s University.  
     
Ms. Nugent stated that she looks forward to meeting the children on their first day of school and believes in the importance of students looking forward to attending school every day. “The first years of a child’s education are the most important years of their education and have a great influence on how they perceive learning,” she explained.
     
Since taking her position this August, Ms. Nugent has been meeting with the Briarcliff Elementary School staff and stated that she is impressed with the conversations she has had with teachers. “They are extremely knowledgeable and have so many wonderful ideas and techniques to offer the students. I know that I will enjoy working here.”