Photo by Ron Burkett.
Betsy Schmitt retires in June from her position as principal of Paine Primary School, a school she helped create.
When Paine Primary School changes its name this summer, so will the name on its principal’s desk. After 37 years as an educator in Alabama, including 23 in Trussville, Principal Betsy Schmitt will retire June 30. The principal of the new Paine Elementary will be Tygar Evans.
“My plan had always been to retire from Paine Primary School,” Schmitt said. “This is the school I helped build, so for me it is fitting that my journey ends at Paine Primary School.”
When Ned and Goldie Paine donated the 38 acres on U.S. 11 for a new school, Schmitt went with the Paines to tour other schools, pick out bricks and select colors. Moving from the largest elementary school in Alabama to the new Paine Primary in 2003 is one of Schmitt’s career highlights, along with being involved in the creation of Trussville City Schools a few years later.
“The community support has always been outstanding. Even when we were a Jefferson County school, the city provided us with funding that other schools may not have. Goldie Paine, business support, community support and the support of the city have been exceptional, and that can be rare,” Schmitt said. “I will forever be grateful to Ned and Goldie Paine. They became great friends … They stepped up big to ensure all of the kids of Trussville had a beautiful place to be educated in.”
As Schmitt prepares to say goodbye to the school and her career in education, she will carry several memories with her.
After graduating from Auburn University in 1979, she began her teaching career as an exceptional education resource teacher at Rocky Ridge Elementary School, followed by stints in contained units at Cahaba Heights Community School and Irondale Community, where she worked with autism students from Allan Cott School. In April 1993, she married her husband, Joe, and moved to Trussville. That same year, Jefferson County Schools was looking for a second assistant principal at Hewitt Elementary. She became principal in 1997 and moved to Paine Primary when it opened in 2003.
“If it wasn’t for Joe Schmitt, I wouldn’t know much about Trussville at all,” Schmitt said.
It’s fitting then that her husband plays a part in one of her favorite memories in the city. He often spent time weed-eating and mowing the grounds around Hewitt Elementary. One summer, he discovered a dog had found a hole under the steps of the building to keep her six puppies safe. By September of that year, the dogs were old enough to be adopted. Schmitt set up at the school for the puppies to be adopted. The mother, Lady Girl, sat and watched as each puppy, “little muddy noses and all,” was adopted. The Schmitts took Lady Girl home.
Schmitt admits becoming a principal was a huge change, but one for which she was ready. She said she is thankful for teachers and staff who began with her at Hewitt and are still with her today. “That’s something rare in education today, and I think that’s been because of a consistency in leadership,” she said.
Two of her best memories with her staff are how it responded when bad weather hit. During the last year at Hewitt Elementary, Schmitt and her staff brought students back to the school and fed them sandwiches during the Cahaba River flood of 2003 until the water subsided. Nearly a decade later, on Jan. 28, 2014, about 30 students and 10 to 12 staff borrowed sleeping bags from the kindergarten classes and toothbrushes from the Dental Health Month supply to spend the night in the Paine Primary library during the snow and ice storm. The teachers posted photos and videos to the students’ families via Facebook.
“We made it fun. We had art, music, PE, pizza for dinner and had breakfast ready to pop in the next morning,” Schmitt said. “The next day, they were asking, ‘Can’t we do it again?’”
Schmitt now plans to make a focus on getting healthy, spending time with her mother in Opelika, hitting the beach, traveling and enjoying life with her husband and their two dogs, Max and Cocoa. But she said she will miss the kids most of all.
“The kids at this age love you. They’re going to hug you, love you and speak to you. It’s a great age to work with,” she said. “I’ve been more than blessed.”
