For Immediate Release
Cathy Brennan, Public Information Officer
772-219-1200, extension 30444

September 13, 2006

Martin County School District
Loreen Francescani Named Florida’s Elementary School Principal of the Year

The Martin County School District is proud to announce that Loreen Francescani, Principal of Warfield Elementary School in Indiantown, is being honored by the Florida Department of Education as Florida's Elementary School Principal of the Year. Mrs. Francescani received the 2006 Principal Achievement Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Elementary School category during the Commissioner's Summit for Principals in Tampa on Wednesday, September 13, 2006.

The Principal Achievement Award for Outstanding Leadership was established in 1988 to honor exceptional principals at Florida’s elementary, middle and high schools.

Mrs. Francescani has 35 years of experience in education. She joined the Martin County School District in 1986 as a teacher at Palm City Elementary. She became the assistant principal at Indiantown Middle School in 1998 and was named principal of Warfield Elementary in 2001. During her leadership, Warfield Elementary has earned an "A" grade under Florida's A+ Plan for the past three years. The school has also made "Adequate Yearly Progress" under the federal No Child Left Behind Act for four consecutive years. This success led to Warfield Elementary receiving the prestigious Florida Title 1 Distinguished School Award for Sustained Achievement in December of 2005. The award recognizes Title 1 schools that have maintained a high level of student achievement. This is the second consecutive year a principal from Martin County has been named Florida's top elementary school principal. Last year, Gail Newman, Principal of J.D. Parker School of Science, Math and Technology, received the award. Please join us in congratulating Mrs. Francescani for this outstanding accomplishment.