At a school as small as Pittsfield Elementary, the Principal gets to spend time with each and every student. We spoke with Principal of Pittsfield Elementary School, Heather Hooppaw-Miller to get to know her, what she is doing at the school and to learn about her family.
Educational background
Hooppaw-Miller attended Ann Arbor Public School from Kindergarten through 12th grade. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Eastern University in Elementary Education and a secondary major in Social Studies. Hooppaw-Miller earned her Masters degree in Educational Leadership and Administration at Michigan State.
Hooppaw-Miller’s first teaching position was at Pittsfield Elementary where she now serves as Principal. At Pittsfield, Hooppaw-Miller taught 2nd grade, 4th grade and 5th grade.
Around the time of the Covid pandemic, Hooppaw-Miller switched to teaching at Scarlett Middle School, and completed her first year there virtually. She stated that it was very special to move up the grades, because she had the same cohort of students from her 2nd grade classes. Two of her former students came to visit her recently, and Hoopaw said, “I had them for so much of their little lives and now they are high schoolers and it was just very rewarding.”
After teaching at Scarlet for a few years, she left to become assistant principal at Burns Park Elementary for 2 years, and eventually moved on to becoming the Principal of Pittsfield.
Pittsfield Elementary
Hoopaw describes Pittsfield as a ‘small but mighty’ school. Their building houses Preschool-5th grade students. Although there is a large spread of grades in the building, there are only 244 students.
“There is something so intimate and wonderful about being with only 244 students and really being able to take the time to get to know them and get to know their personality, interests, and their likes and just getting to be with them,” she said. “That part feels very rewarding. I was surprised at how quickly I was able to get down students’ names and what class they are in.”
Hoopaw and her staff are working towards a few goals for the school currently. She describes her main goal as “making sure everyone feels that their voice is heard” within the school community.
She describes the Pittsfield community as being small and close. Because of this she hopes to get an understanding of the community’s hopes and dreams for the school.
Hoopaw said, “…that’s been the biggest goal, is making sure that I’m making, and the community is making, and our staff is making…student driven, community driven, staff driven decisions. So for me that has been a lot of time just talking to people and doing that relationship building part, and you know making sure everybody knows that every voice is valuable and heard.”
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Joys of Being Principal
Although being the Principal of an Elementary school is a lot of responsibility, Hooppaw-Miller finds tons of joy in her position. She describes one of her favorite parts of being the principal as connecting with people.
Hooppaw-Miller said, “I think my favorite part is honestly just interacting and being with people whether it’s the staff or students or families, it’s just so fun to just be with them in doing things.”
She continues, “Whether it’s being with them during gym class and doing a gym activity, or talking to parents while they are volunteering during an event, or just even in the morning going around talking to staff and just checking in and asking people how their weekend was. I think that part, like the communal part, is just my favorite part because it keeps us all connected together.”
Hooppaw-Miller works hard to build relationships and community in the school. She said “I try to help people remember that we are all here in the same place at the same time together but when we leave here, it’s a huge part of who we are too. I think it’s important to be connected beyond the school setting.”
Personal life
Hooppaw-Miller is married to her husband Patrick. They live with their 3 rescue dogs Ripley, Ellie, and Dax, and their cat Serrie. She describes her animals as being ‘like her kids’. For fun, Hooppaw-Miller and her husband enjoy hiking at National parks and traveling. Their dogs often come along, and even have their own travel bags with patches for all of the places they have traveled.
Hooppaw-Miller and Patrick also enjoy watching football and spending time with their families.
