When Katonah Elementary School students come to school on the first day, they’ll be greeted by a new principal with a familiar face.

That’s because Jessica Godin, 31, visited 18 classrooms for 20 minutes each last spring when she toured the school. She also met with almost every teacher individually and asked them how she could support their learning and growth this year. And this summer, she’s hosted many parents in her office for informal meetings. Her official start date was July 1.

Godin will replace Eileen Casey, who is serving as interim principal of KES. Casey took over after Jonathan Kaplan announced that he was taking a leave of absence from the position starting in December. In Feburary, Kaplan announced his resignation effective June 2011.

Her impressions of the KES community so far?

“The community is very passionate here,” she said. “The passion gives me a lot of energy; I want people to know I have an open door, and I want to hear both the positive things and the things people would like to see changed.”

For the first few months, though, she said she’d like to observe and get to know the school’s culture, and culture of the school district, which may be undergoing some changes with the arrival of Paul Kreutzer, new schools superintedent.

Godin said parents were very involved in her former district of Cheyenne Wells in Durango, CO, where she was the preK – 8th grade principal. She described that culture as “an interesting mix of people in the middle of the oil fields, from the very wealthy to workers in the fields.” While in that position, she said had the opportunity for professional development and mentoring from a veteran educator who was named Colorado “elementary principal of the year.”

Godin also had experience implementing a “positive behavior intervention” program called Character Counts, that she’d like to explore doing in Katonah. 

The program helps establish positive relationships between students, parents and school staff by reinforcing positive behavior. Kids get “written up” for good deeds, then get sent down to the principal’s office for praise, which helps de-mystify the notion of principal as foe, said Godin.

“Over two years, I saw kids change their behavoir, and go out of their way to help each other,” she said. “I think we have pieces of this in place here—through sharing assemblies, for example—but I’d be interested in developing it further with buy-in from the staff.”

Godin said she’d also like to address concerns she’s heard from parents over the implementation of the district’s health and wellness policy, which some have said is inconsistent across classrooms, and work on the implementation of RTI, the state-mandated “response-to-intervention” program which provides academic supports to ensure student progress.

When she’s not working in her new job, Godin, a Long Island native who loved the outdoor recreation in Colorado, is exploring her new surroundings. “I’m big on the outdoors—we’ve been to Teatown, Lasdon, all over,” she said, rattling off the parks she’s been to with her seven-month-old son, Brier, and her husband, Dave, who is a school social worker.

Though only 31, Godin said that she brings plenty of experience—12 years of teaching and educational administration—plus an energy and excitement about connecting with kids.

“I think I can also be a role model for younger kids and show them how to succeed early on,” she said.