Staff Awards
Dr. Kelly Wins Mark Mann Award
Dr. Patricia A. Kelly, principal of Westover Elementary School, is the 2014 winner of the Mark Mann Excellence and Harmony Award.
The award is presented annually to an MCPS administrator who has shown exceptional performance in promoting academic excellence, positive human relations and community outreach. Superintendent Joshua Starr presented the award to Kelly at the April 2 meeting of MCPS administrators and supervisors.
Dr. Kelly began her teaching career in the Prince George’s Public School system and came to MCPS as acting principal at Burtonsville Elementary School. She served as assistant principal at Judith A. Resnik and Greenwood elementary schools, director in the office of Special Education Performance and Accountability, acting director of Special Education, and executive assistant to the Deputy Superintendent of Schools. She was named Westover’s principal in 2006.
The Westover community credits Dr. Kelly’s high expectations for student achievement and her belief that all students can be successful learners as important elements to creating the positive school climate at Westover.
Dr. Kelly is a proactive leader who has introduced education innovations such as Touch Math, the Accelerated Reader Program, and the Leveled Literacy Intervention Reading Program to help students achieve at high levels and eliminate the achievement gap. She deploys her staff based on the performance needs of her students, ensuring that her strongest staff works with the students who struggle the most. She organized the participation of Westover students with autism in the county and state Special Olympics and orchestrated their weekly training with the school’s fourth and fifth grade National Elementary Honor Society.