When the Suffield Elementary School principal job opened up in 1999, Shawn Bookman was hesitant to apply. At that time, Bookman was a fifth grader teacher in the Springfield City School District with two young children.
But her then-principal had seen her potential for an administrative role and she went for it, beginning her principal career in her 30s.
“Many parents were older than me, and they looked at me like, ‘Who’s this young girl telling me about my child,’” she said. “Or, ‘Who’s this person that’s running our school now?’”
Suffield Elementary School first grade teacher Teresa Cianchetti recalled seeing Bookman come out of her interview, wondering, “if she’d be up to the task of managing our school, and wow, was I very much impressed with her from the get-go.”
Now the Suffield principal for nearly 26 years, Bookman is preparing to retire at the end of the 2025-2026 school year, looking to spend more time with family. But her work and efforts will leave a lasting impact on Suffield and the Field Local Schools.
Bookman grew up attending Brimfield Elementary, Field Middle School and Field High School, making her term as principal a homecoming to the district.
Growing up, she always knew that she would pursue a career in which “I could support children and help others,” leading her to pursue degrees in elementary education and elementary administration at The University of Akron. She followed in the shoes of her grandfather, Harold Poland, in pursuing school administration.
“Harold Poland was the first principal of Field High School back in the ’60s,” she said. “I guessed I kind of followed in his shoes. He was not alive when I became the principal, but I know that he would be very proud of me for doing the same role as he did.”
While principal, Bookman worked with Suffield Elementary’s director of curriculum, her longtime friend Bethany Hudson, to pass the district’s first new levy in 28 years in 2019.
“We were working on bare bones all the years up until that point,” Hudson said. “We did the most we could with the least amount of dollars and we were just getting to a point where we couldn’t keep going and keep offering the great education that we have.”
A highlight of Hudson and Bookman’s joint work was overcoming the obstacles the COVID-19 pandemic imposed on remote learning.
Hudson recalled the pair collaborating to ensure that students had Chromebooks and food while also helping teachers get their lesson plans online.
“She’s been the one who’s been here the whole time I’ve been here,” Hudson said. “She’s the only principal left that’s been here the entire time, so we’ve just been through a lot together in the district.”
Both Hudson and Cianchetti noted how Bookman strives to improve students’ education, which led her to implement the Leader In Me program in 2015. The Leader In Me is a FranklinCovey-designed program meant to foster students’ leadership abilities using The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. FranklinCovey is a Salt Lake City-based coaching company specializing in leadership, individual effectiveness and business execution.
“That’s one of my career highlights, is just being able to implement that and all the things that it did for our building in the terms of student leadership, student responsibility,” Bookman said. “Making students feel that this is truly their school and they're just as in charge — they can do anything here at the school that an adult can do.”
Bookman’s efforts at Suffield have paid off as the school recently received the Hall of Fame award from the Ohio Association of Elementary School Administrators for its results on the 2024-2025 Ohio Schools Report Card. The Hall of Award award recognizes schools and districts that improved their Performance Index by three or more points from the previous year, while also achieving a Value-Added rating of four or more stars.
Bookman’s willingness to work alongside her staff to achieve a common goal extends far beyond the school walls. In 2010, following Cianchetti’s husband’s ALS diagnosis leaving him bedbound, Bookman organized a community effort to weed Cianchetti’s yard, pour cement into her driveway and power wash her house.
“I remember at one point looking up and there is Shawn Bookman, my principal, on my roof with a looper, a tree trimmer thing, and she’s lobbing off branches on a tree,” Cianchetti said. “And I remember thinking at that point, ‘Like how amazing is this? Like there’s my principal up on my roof doing maintenance for my house for me.’”
She also recalled Bookman enjoying playing with students as “she’s always been one to be actively a part of the events that are happening at the school.”
For her community-driven efforts and the love she has for her students, both Cianchetti and Hudson are confident that Bookman’s impact will be remembered and continued throughout the halls of Suffield.
“I think one of Shawn’s greatest gifts is that she demands a lot of you, but she’s right down there with you in the trenches,” Cianchetti said. “She never asks you to do something that she wouldn’t be doing, as well. I think she helps build the camaraderie and that sense of common purpose.”
As Bookman prepares to enter her retirement, she looks to gather stories from past students, families, teachers and faculty so she can read them while in retirement. For those interested in submitting, email Suffield Elementary Secretary Kelly Hurd at kelly.hurd@fieldlocalschools.org.
“I am very sad about it. I have so many students, families and teachers here that I have great relationships with and it’s going to be so sad to leave those,” she said. “But also then I’m happy to be retiring and to move onto the next phase of life and be able to spend time with my family.”