Next school year, Patricia Peterson will join PS 8 as an interim acting assistant principal for the lower school and principal Seth Phillips, who has been the principal of both campuses, will be mostly present at the middle school MS 8.
Ms. Peterson lives with her husband and two sons in Carroll Gardens. From a young age she knew she wanted to be a teacher and studied early childhood education as an undergrad while majoring in English literature. Ms. Peterson went on to earn a master’s degree in early childhood and elementary education from Bank Street College of Education in New York City.
Working in Brooklyn schools since 1993, Ms. Peterson began her teaching career at Packer Collegiate Institute. After Packer, she taught at PS 29 in Cobble Hill in a gifted and talented third grade classroom. It was at this time she was chosen to be part of a teacher-leader administrative program where she took classes alongside Seth Phillips. Their professional relationship continued when Mr. Phillips became principal at PS 8, and PS 29 was asked to serve as a partner/mentor school. After a number of years, Ms. Peterson moved from being a classroom teacher to gifted and talented/enrichment coordinator for Region 8. Although PS 8 was not a designated gifted and talented school, Ms. Peterson worked with its teachers to deepen the curriculum and enrichments.
Over time, Ms. Peterson has taken on a variety of roles within the Department of Education, serving a school-based math coach, an assistant principal, an instructional specialist, a deputy network leader and most recently as an instructional lead at the Brooklyn North Field Support Center, where she specializes in elementary math.
Ms. Peterson looks forward to strengthening PS 8’s program. “It’s a great time at PS 8,” she asserts. “Most of the work on the Common Core is already done. I’m excited about how we can now upgrade our really strong curriculum units, ways we can integrate technology. Not reinventing our units, but what are the tweaks that can bring us into the 21st century?”
