Andreski to Retire as McKinley Principal

When McKinley School students return next year they will do so minus one person, a pied piper who helped lead the school's academics, celebrations and challenges over the last seven years.

Claudia Andreski, McKinley's principal, has announced her retirement after 24 years in the Westfield school system and seven years at the helm of McKinley. She will officially end her Westfield career on June 30.

"My husband has been retired for two years," she said. "He loves to ride his bike and we love to go hiking and he's been missing me."

Andreski is well known for her enthusiastic personality and championing of her school and its students. During her time as principal she has created a reading challenge which has fostered a culture of reading school wide. In exchange for reading a set amount of books, growing each year, Andreski has agreed to do something for the kids. One year she dyed her hair blue. Another she drove a monster truck around the school grounds. Another time she took the entire school community to college, a day trip by train to Kean University.

This year Andreski will be landing in a National Guard helicopter after the students have topped her goal of 16,000 books for the year. Andreski talks proudly about what the reading challenge has done to the school.

"The nicest part is it becomes the norm here to hand in green sheets," she said of the sheets signifying a new book read. "It is a part of our culture. If we all work together something good can happen."

Andreski started her teaching career in Westfield 24 years ago as a teacher in Jefferson. Eight years ago she moved over to Franklin School for a year as the assistant principal, before taking up the top spot at McKinley. Andreski seems almost custom fit for the McKinley post. Her children went to McKinley and she once served as the school's PTO president.

During her time at McKinley, Andreski has done more than the reading challenge. She led the school's centennial celebration last year and served as a town wide champion for Westfield's smallest school. Andreski is a familar presence in McKinley, helping children in the homework club after school and getting to know all of her charges. She speaks with pride about the school and its faculty.

"McKinley is small with 347 kids, that is the key to getting to know every single child and family," she said. "The teachers come to school for the benefit of the children not their own agenda."

Moving into her retirement, Andreski is not sure what she will do next. She intends to remain involved in education, working with children and teachers, but in a more relaxed role than being principal. Other than that, she intends to take it one day at a time.

"I don't know what I want to do," she said. "I want to figure that out, but I think it would be nice to be a kid."

Andreski did note that while she is still figuring out what she wants to do with the rest of her life, she knows exactly what she'll miss after she walks out of the doors of McKinley School for the last time.

"The kids, I love them," she said.