Meet the Staff
New technical high school principal
Sarasota County Superintendent of Schools Gary Norris has appointed an award winning
administrator to head a new career and technical education high school scheduled to
open in August, 2008, on the campus of the Sarasota County Technical Institute. The new high school will offer students a unique opportunity to attend an academically rigorous high school
for core classes and a state-of-the-art career and technical education facility on the same
campus.
Jennifer Putnam has been named principal of the new, as yet unnamed, high school.
Principals of new schools are appointed a year in advance of the school’s opening whenever
possible so they can be engaged in every phase of the construction, equipping and preparation
of the school.
Putnam was an assistant principal at Booker High School. She holds a doctorate in
education administration with a minor in business and finance. She also has had extensive
experience as an innovative high school administrator.
As a high school principal in Fort Lauderdale, she designed, opened and administered a
charter high school that was recognized by the governor as the eighth-best high school in
Florida in terms of year-to-year academic progress.
When she was principal of a Michigan high school, her school was ranked by U.S. News and World Report as one of the top 100 “Outstanding American High Schools” and was
honored as a National Blue Ribbon High School by the U.S. Department of Education. Both
honors were largely a result of a technical education program that she developed in
collaboration with the Michigan Department of Education.
Sarasota Assistant Superintendent Hal Nelson expressed the highest confidence in the
new appointee. “The North County Technical High School will reflect the community’s longstanding
desire to expand the options available to high school students at all levels of academic
performance,” Nelson said. “We are looking to create something cutting-edge here.
“This school will not be reflective of the old vocational model. Instead students will
have high-level opportunities in content that is high tech, academically challenging and solidly
aligned with careers paths or college programs.
“The North County Technical High School is expected to be a jewel in the crown of the
Sarasota County Public Schools” he said. “Assigning Dr. Putnam as principal reflects these
high expectations.”