Principal of Wernli Elementary named KSAT12?s Educator of the Month

SAN ANTONIO – Every month during the school year, KSAT works to recognize local educators for going above and beyond. This time around, the Educator of the Month recipient is a principal.

Wernli Elementary School Principal Lori Shaw is the first principal to be recognized as KSAT’s Educator of the Month.

Shaw is credited with opening Wernli, a brand new elementary school, in the middle of a pandemic.

“We’d never met in-person before,” Shaw said. “We didn’t get to interview in-person. We never got to come together as a group and so, when we finally got to come together in this beautiful school, what an amazing experience it was to bring all these people from all over the district to this wonderful, beautiful school; even during a really challenging time of all of our careers. I didn’t do all of this on my own and it makes me really emotional to talk about it because without good people, this could have never happened.”

Wernli Elementary is now in its third year.

“This is the first full year that everyone is back in school and so, it’s a wonderful feeling,” said Shaw. “It’s a buzz all day long having 776 kids roaming around and all these teachers. It’s a really wonderful place to learn and work.

Principal Shaw greets all 776 students by name and their parents. And, the students tell us they notice.

It’s another reason why teachers say Shaw is so deserving of being recognized.

“She will do whatever she needs to do to help facilitate all of us being successful, but if you ask her, she says, “I’m just doing my job,” said Elizabeth Soto, a reading specialist at Wernli Elementary. “She doesn’t see how amazing she is and what an incredible leader she is and how much everybody loves her.”

Would you like to see your favorite teacher recognized as Educator of the Month? You can nominate them here.