Andrew Pemrick is the new principal at Questar III’s Catskill Academy.
As the new principal at Questar III’s Catskill Academy, Andrew Pemrick is quickly familiarizing himself with students and staff. His goals for the year are to establish a sense of community and to challenge students both academically and behaviorally.
Having been an assistant principal at Schuylerville Elementary as well as a special education teacher at Shaker High School, Pemrick now sees the advantage of working in a school like Catskill Academy. His commute from his home in Saratoga is much longer than what he was used to, but the 35-student high school means a more unique opportunity for him, his students and his staff.
“We can craft our community any way we want and everyone has a part in it,” said Pemrick. “This is something you don’t get at some of the bigger schools that have maybe 1,000 students and 200 teachers.”
Establishing this sense of community and pride is particularly important at Catskill Academy. As Pemrick explains, students placed in special education programs can sometimes lose that connection to their school.
So far this year, students have already designed their school crest and have chosen the mountain lion as the school’s mascot. Pemrick hopes that the students will feel a sense of pride when they see the crest hanging in their high school.
Academically, students have excelled in the Academy environment and its personalized setting. He aims to help students realize their full potential, adding he wants both the students and the staff to be impressed by their accomplishments.
In addition to the academic challenges the students will face this year, Pemrick said he is aiming to help students understand how their character is perceived by not only themselves but by others as well so that they will succeed outside of the classroom.
“I want to teach tolerance and perseverance,” said Pemrick. “It’s important to me that these students are caring and compassionate towards others.”
Like all educators this year, the challenge for staff at Catskill Academy is the new Common Core Learning Standards and APPR assessments. The new requirements have been stressful on teachers, but Pemrick said Questar III has been incredibly supportive. “It helps to put educators at ease and lets us know that we’re all in this together, working on it as a team. They won’t leave you out there by yourself trying to work through it.”
In addition to his role at Catskill Academy, Pemrick is also the Special Education Principal for Goff Middle School in East Greenbush where he supervises faculty and staff in four classrooms with a total of 30 students.
Pemrick also supervises all Questar III physical education teachers.
Pemrick says he’s not the type of administrator to stay behind the desk; his leadership style is proactive. While he encourages staff to come to him if they’re having trouble, he says he works best by working side by side with them.
Pemrick received a Bachelor of Arts in Public Justice from the State University of NY at Oswego, a Master of Science in Special Education from the College of St. Rose, and has a School Administrator and Supervisor (SAS) certificate in Education Administration from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.
Outside of school, Pemrick enjoys spending time with his girlfriend Trisha and his two sons: Hunter, 11; and Drew, 8. Both boys are very active, keeping them busy with ice hockey, football, baseball, lacrosse, hunting and fishing. Pemrick himself says golf is his sport.
