Inside Litchfield Elementary School District: Meet Principal Fantazia

By Stacy Mantle
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Sarah Fantazia's connection to the Litchfield Elementary School District began long before she became principal of Verrado Elementary School in 2024.

A former district student herself, Fantazia now raises her children in the same home where she grew up. With 14 years in education, she has worked as a teacher at Scott Libby Elementary and an instructional coach at Rancho Santa Fe before moving into school leadership.

What led you to become a principal? As a teacher, I joined every committee I could because I wanted to understand how to make our school more successful. Eventually, I realized I could impact more classrooms by supporting teachers. After four years as an instructional coach, I wanted to help create systems for positive change.

What's the most rewarding part of leading Verrado Elementary? Connections. I enjoy discovering people's strengths, especially in areas that aren't my own, and helping them share those strengths with the rest of our campus.

What values guide your decisions? I always consider what impact a decision will have on my entire school family.

What does a successful school culture look like? Teachers collaborating across grade levels, parents volunteering and students feeling confident enough to make mistakes while knowing they are loved and valued.

What programs are you most proud of? I'm proud of how much we celebrate our students and our multitiered system of supports process. We work hard to make sure students don't fall through the cracks.

What's something people might be surprised to learn about you? I'm actually very introverted, and I love being at home.

Editor’s note:   A grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation made this story possible. The foundation awarded 15 newsrooms to pay for solutions-focused education reporters for two years. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.

Stacy Mantle
Education Solutions Reporter

smantle@iniusa.org

Meet Stacy
Stacy Mantle is joining the team at Independent Newsmedia, Inc. as an Education Solutions journalist, thanks to a grant from the Arizona Community Collaborative. She has a long history in education that ranges from teaching junior high and middle school to developing curriculum and standards-based assessments.

Community: A longtime advocate for animal welfare, Stacy is deeply involved in rescue efforts and volunteers with several nonprofit organizations.

Random Fact: Once upon a time, she shared her home with a pet coyote and two wolf hybrids. The experiences were wild enough to become the subject of her first book!

Education: She holds a BA in English with a minor in Political Science, a Post-baccalaureate in Secondary Education, and an MBA with a emphasis on Marketing.

Hobbies: In her spare time, Stacy writes fast-paced urban fantasy novels, crafts small-batch artisan soap, and is always up for hiking or off-roading through the Arizona wilderness with her husband of 23 years.