New principal arrives at St. Stephen's

WARWICK — Mary Lou Moccia, who has served as the principal of St. Stephen - St. Edward Elementary School in Warwick for the past 17 years, recently announced that she would retire effective Aug. 31. And she urged everyone to welcome the new principal with the same warmth and openness that she had received.

On Monday, Aug. 4, Bethany Negersmith arrived at St. Stephen's to prepare for her assignment as the new principal of the Catholic elementary school.

Negersmith, who lives in Chester with her husband, Mark and their two daughters, Abigail, 6, and Olivia, 3, is the former principal of Highland Falls Intermediate School, a public middle school in Highland Falls, just outside the US Military Academy at West Point.

A native of northern California, Negersmith earned her bachelor of arts degree in human resource management at the Dominican University of California in San Rafael.

She then went on to study and receive her teaching credential, a state requirement for educators, also at Dominican University. After moving east, Negersmith obtained a masters degree in educational administration at Long Island University.

For the past nine years, Negersmith has served as teacher, assistant principal and, most recently, as principal of Highland Falls Intermediate School.

"We have a close knit community at St. Stephen's," she said. "I'm very happy and very exited about being here and I look forward to working closely with the teachers, parents and students at this wonderful school."

St. Stephen - St. Edward School, which was built in 1965 and has been in existence for almost 50 years, is the parish elementary school of Saint Stephen, the First Martyr, Parish. The school educates approximately 300 children in Grades Pre-K through Grade 8.

For additional information visit: ststephen-stedward.org.