For Courtney Frazier, success at Belen Soto Elementary School is about more than grades and test scores. It's about helping children find their voices, build confidence and discover what they are capable of achieving.
Frazier has been part of the school since July 2018, a year before it opened, and has spent 23 years in education. Her leadership centers on putting students first, building strong relationships with families and creating a school community where every child feels valued.
Guided by the school's motto, "Alone a Drop, Together a Storm,"
Frazier wants students to leave Soto prepared not just for the next grade, but for life.
What values guide your leadership? We are a student-first school, and we use our core values to guide decisions about what is best for our students.
How do you measure success beyond test scores? Success is the student who finds their voice or discovers confidence, the classmate who chooses kindness and the child who learns to persevere through challenges. It's students modeling our core values in and out of school.
It's also reflected in the relationships we build with families, the growth of our teachers and the culture we create together.
How can families be effective partners in their children's education? The most effective partnerships begin with trust, communication and a shared belief that every child can succeed.
Families don't have to be educators to make a tremendous impact. Talking positively about school at home, showing up, asking questions, celebrating growth, establishing routines and reinforcing effort and perseverance go a long way.
We encourage families to communicate openly with teachers, share what they know about their children and approach challenges as opportunities to work together. When students see the adults in their lives working as a team, that partnership is where the magic happens.
What do you hope students remember most about attending Belen Soto? I hope our students remember that they were known, valued and loved at Soto. I hope they remember the adults who believed in them, the friendships they built and the moments they discovered what they were capable of.
I want them to remember that failure was never the end of the story. Most of all, I want them to leave knowing that who they are matters, how they treat others matters and they are capable of more than they may realize.
Our goal is bigger than preparing students for the next grade. It's preparing them for life. I hope they carry a little Storm with them wherever they go, always remembering they never have to face life's challenges alone.
Alone a Drop, Together a Storm.
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.
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.
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