{"id":138762,"date":"2026-03-15T06:34:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T06:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/138762\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T06:34:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T06:34:07","slug":"mvps-the-almanac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/138762\/","title":{"rendered":"MVPs – The Almanac"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n
\n
\n \/Local news
\n
\n <\/a>
\n
\n
\n Area principals honored for commitment to excellence <\/p>\n

1 \/ 2<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Amanda Beckett<\/p>\n

2 \/ 2<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Dr. Brett Bielewicz<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

[expand]<\/p>\n

close
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n

For the last five years, valuable Allegheny County principals have been recognized for their work, which may at times go unnoticed.<\/p>\n

The Most Valuable Principals (MVP) program \u2013 a partnership of the Grable Foundation, the Allegheny Intermediate Unit and the Pittsburgh Penguins \u2013 honors principals for their innovative leadership, dedication to student success and commitment to excellence.<\/p>\n

Among the 15 honored this year are Amanda Beckett, assistant principal at Chartiers Valley Intermediate School, and Dr. Brett Bielewicz, principal of Jefferson Elementary School in the Mt. Lebanon School District.<\/p>\n

Principals from Allegheny County\u2019s 42 suburban public-school districts are considered. More than 300 nominations were received this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really the principal who sets the tone, and we learn again and again how important that tone is from everything from academic outcomes to student attendance to graduation rates,\u201d said Ryan Rydzewski, Grable Foundation communications officer. \u201cThe work of principals is so often invisible to people outside of a school building. If you\u2019re a parent, when you interact with a principal, it\u2019s usually bad news. We really wanted to recognize and celebrate the hard and important work that principals do because they don\u2019t always get the positive spotlight that they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bielewicz and Beckett were touched by the recognition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an incredible honor,\u201d Bielewicz said. \u201cIt was a really fun surprise because it was a school community family member who nominated me, so it was unexpected. It\u2019s an honor and a privilege. It feels nice to be validated that the work that you\u2019re doing is having an impact beyond just my office, beyond just the four walls of the building. I\u2019ve always enjoyed working with kids and loved the idea of having an impact bigger than you.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really kind,\u201d added Beckett, who admitted she likes to fly under the radar. \u201cI\u2019m OK if I just come to work every day and do my job, but it is really kind that someone nominated me, and I\u2019m just appreciative of the opportunity.\u201d <\/p>\n

Dr. Jill Jacoby, assistant executive director of teaching and learning for the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, said a number of categories are considered when selecting the MVPs. They include what sets the principal apart from others, how they have improved the lives of students, and how they have built relationships with students, families and communities. <\/p>\n

Nominations are submitted by community members, parents, colleagues and supervisors, and the MVPs are selected by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit. Nominations are taken each year in October.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrincipals are an important part of the school landscape, and I think sometimes they don\u2019t get the limelight because they\u2019re just keeping their head down and doing their job,\u201d Jacoby said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to celebrate them. There\u2019s so many good things that happen, especially at a building level with principals that we really want to make sure they get honored.\u201d <\/p>\n

Bielewicz is in his seventh year as principal at Jefferson Elementary School. One of the features at the school of which he is most proud is the positive behavior program, which he feels is helping to create the next generation of good citizens.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur three big mottos are being respectful, responsible and ready,\u201d he said. \u201cThat crosses all realms of whether it\u2019s academic, whether it\u2019s social or whether it\u2019s emotional. We have a rather integrated approach to making sure students feel seen, valued, loved and respected, but also that they feel prepared to tackle whatever the world is bringing their way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beckett has been in her current position for 2\u00bd years. She said there are many great programs at the school such as a student ambassador program, Kindness Crew, Unity Team, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Patrol and peer helpers <\/p>\n

\u201cCV is a very diverse district,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have kids that get to learn from other people. It\u2019s been really great to see how it\u2019s evolved since I started working at Chartiers Valley and how accepting kids can be of other people.\u201d <\/p>\n

The principals will be honored at a Penguins\u2019 game March 22, where they will receive two Party Suite tickets, a customized Pens jersey sporting their names, and a $1,000 donation to their school. <\/p>\n

\u201c(The Penguins) have always been a great supporter of this program,\u201d Rydzewski said. \u201cIt means a lot to the principals. Sometimes they don\u2019t even know they are nominated. They are just bowled over to find out that they\u2019ve won.\u201d <\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \/Local news Area principals honored for commitment to excellence …\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":138763,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[58815,182,7526,63715,73,75,74,15364],"class_list":["post-138762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-chartiers-valley-school-district","tag-local-news","tag-mt-lebanon","tag-mt-lebanon-school-district","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-south-hills"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}