Kristen Fischetti begins new role as principal of Cold Spring

PINE PLAINS — After spending more than a dozen years teaching in the Pine Plains Central School District (PPCSD), Kristen Fischetti was honored for the chance to graduate and become an administrator. She is the new principal of Cold Spring Early Learning Center, starting July 1.

The Pine Plains Board of Education (BOE) approved her resignation as an elementary school teacher and her appointment to a four-year probational term as Cold Spring’s principal at its meeting on June 15.

Throughout her 12 years in the PPCSD, Fischetti said she experienced the joys of getting to know teachers, students and their families in the close-knit community.

Hired in August 2010, she started as a reading teacher at Seymour Smith Intermediate Learning Center before transitioning into her role as a third-grade teacher for an inclusion class with teacher Meghan Rizzo.

As a prime example of how tight the PPCSD is, Fischetti said she and Rizzo had been co-teaching for so long that the students and their families know them as “the Rizzettis.”

As Fischetti prepared to leave Seymour Smith, one family gave them a bracelet that said “Always a Rizzetti.”

Fischetti said it’s the students who bring the most joy to her job.

“It’s always about the students,” she said, adding they make the challenges worthwhile. “They always light up my day. They are these little souls traveling throughout the world and I get to work with them every day.”

She also voiced her appreciation of everyone she’s worked with, both at Seymour Smith and Cold Spring. She became better acquainted with that school a few weeks before last year ended.

Fischetti said she learned about the open principal position at Cold Spring when the staff started to hear rumblings that Director of Curriculum and Instruction Brian Timm was training under outgoing Superintendent Martin Handler, who retired after graduation.

Then talk began that Cold Spring Principal Gian Starr would take Timm’s position.

Fischetti said that when the principal’s position was officially posted, she thought it might be the only opportunity to join the administration. Otherwise, she would’ve  happily remained a teacher.

She submitted her paperwork for the principal position at the end of April; began the interview process in June;  and last month, the BOE accepted Fischetti’s resignation as an instructor, effective July 30. Her new position began on Friday, July 1.

Now Fischetti said she can hardly wait for the start of the 2022-23 school year come September. In the meantime, this new principal will dig into her new role and busily prepare throughout the summer.

She added she’s a firm believer in co-teaching, merging regular and special education together and creating a diverse learning atmosphere.

Recalling Seymour Smith’s partnership with Literacy Connections that introduced the Book Buddies program in the PPCSD, she also holds literacy initiatives near and dear to her heart.

A firm believer in hands-on learning, Fischetti is excited to foster real-world learning experiences for students at Cold Spring. Glancing at the great yard behind the school, she said she would love to introduce an agricultural education program at the school.

“I am honored and feel so lucky to be a part of the Pine Plains community and continuing to serve the district,” Fischetti said.

Borrowing a quote from Muhammad Ali, she said, “service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth. That’s something I live by every day.”