District 834 welcomes new Superintendent

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Denise Pontrelli joins the Stillwater community as District 834's new superintendent. "I love Stillwater so far," said Pontrelli. The community is excited to see what she has in store.

With warmth and kindness in her eyes, one can tell new Superintendent Denise Pontrelli is perfect to take the seat as District 834’s new superintendent.

Coming 40 minutes away from the Spring Lake Park district, Pontrelli is breaking in new turf. As exciting as getting a fresh start sounds, this is a much bigger job, being new to the district. Spring Lake Park has 5,500 students in the district, while Stillwater has around 8,800. Stillwater is a much bigger community, but also a very close-knit one. Pontrelli has a much bigger district to lead, but also a bigger community standing behind her and welcoming her.

Beauty is surely in the eye of the beholder, and Pontrelli loved what she saw. She comments highly about the Stillwater district, “I liked commitment to the ‘triple A’: arts, athletics and academics. I just think that’s really important. When I was growing up in a public school, I was fortunate to have a really strong backround in all three of those, so when I saw that and then also saw how supportive and engaged the Stillwater community is, I just felt like it was a great place to be,” Pontrelli said.

Although she has only been in the district for a short while, she already has many students supporting her. Having this close community is very beneficial in a position like Pontrelli’s. Everyday she is making decisions that affect the whole town of Stillwater, but luckily for her, she is not alone. Not only does the whole community have much support, but all of the Pony staff as well. Together everyone holds a helping hand in making District 834 a great one.

Principal Rob Bach said, “She comes across as human, and you can’t disassociate that from your job. Yes we have jobs to do, but at the end of the day we have to relate to each other as people, to be able to effectively do those jobs, and so the fact that you have someone that you can relate to as a person, and all of those kinds of things really helps.”

Stillwater has not had a stable district administration in awhile. Before Pontrelli, Tom Nelson served as an interim. Now, the district is fortunate to have someone their kids can look up to.

“What I think will be good ultimately is her sense of stability,” said Bach.

Along with her steadiness, comes a lot of kindness. Her warm personality and the care she has for others is reassuring to the whole district. Staff, parents, and students can trust that the education offered lies in the right hands. Pontrelli has many years of experience in the education world and knows what is best for Stillwater’s students education.

“I have always enjoyed working with kids, young adults, and seeing them grow through their learning,” Pontrelli added.

Students are not the only ones learning each day. Pontrelli and the rest of the staff in the district are learning as they go too. Everyday is a new learning experience when working with students, in whom are creating their path that lies ahead of them. This can be terrifying to some, but intriguing for Pontrelli.

“I also like how everyday is different when working in schools and with kids. You never have to worry about monotony, you can always grow and learn new things,” Pontrelli said.

District 834 has, and is going through many dramatic changes. A recent bond just passed that has a lot in store for the district. Many renovations and an addition will be made to to the high school along with a new elementary school being built. This is a huge change for the entire community of Stillwater. Ninth graders are coming to the high school, boundary changes could take place due to the new school, and a new sports facility is being built at the high school. The district is not the only one making a transition this year, but so is Pontrelli. Coming to a new district, she is learning the ropes and adjusting to all the changes. 

“The transition itself is going to be challenging not just for her, but it’s going to be challenging for all of us and just like in a lot of other jobs, she is going to rely on people like me for example, to help lead certain elements of that and to make sure that it winds up looking good. It’s not all on her. She is going to have to rely on all of us and all of us are going to have to pull up our boot straps and get dirty,” Bach said.

“We have strong faith that Pontrelli will help our schools undergo such large changes, and we believe that she will accomplish what needs to be accomplished here at Stillwater,” said senior Isabel Day. 

All of this change may seem like a lot for one person to handle, but Pontrelli is prepared and ready to begin her role as superintendent. Fortunately for her, many decisions were made prior to her arrival at Stillwater, but it is now up to Pontrelli and the rest of the district’s staff to execute this year and the following years to come efficiently.

“Within all those changes, I think it’s how do we embrace change, and kind of hang our hands together and say ‘alright, we can get through this’ and when we get through the change, I think we’ll be in a much better spot,” said Pontrelli.

With coming to a district about to undergo many transformations along with leaving her old district behind, administration and students feel very lucky Pontrelli joined the community. Having high hopes for the future, District 834 sees a light in Pontrelli that will shine on student’s education and lead them to success.

“I want Stillwater to be the place in Minnesota where everyone looks to say, ‘lets do what they’re doing,'” Pontrelli said.