Two Bristol Twp. Educators Promoted To Assistant Principals

Provided by the Bristol Township School District:

Former instructional coaches Bernadette Hannah-Barone and Dawn Martesi have been promoted to assistant principals within Bristol Township School District.

The Bristol Township School Board voted in approval at the November 16, 2020 meeting.

“Bernadette and Dawn have been instrumental in providing innovative technology opportunities for students at FDR and Armstrong middle schools,” said Superintendent Dr. Melanie Gehrens. “I can’t wait to see what they achieve as assistant principals and collaborate with them in their new roles.” 

Dawn Martesi is new assistant principal of Truman High School

As the new assistant principal of Truman High School, Martesi was previously an instructional coach and in charge of technology and STEM integration at Armstrong Middle School since 2014. She has worked in the District for almost 20 years and began as a special education teacher at Armstrong Middle School. As Truman’s new principal, Martesi strives to cultivate a culture where students are empowered to take ownership of their education. 

“I have always viewed education as a holistic and student-centered approach to learning and understand that learning only occurs when students feel connected and important in their school environment,” said Martesi. “I believe that creating authentic purposes for our students embraces the 21st-century mindset and answers the nation’s call for more meaningful, authentic learning.” 

In her most recent role as an instructional coach, Martesi leveraged technology for students to be content creators, problem solvers and responsible digital media and learning resources consumers. She has performed ongoing professional development for faculty and staff, and oversees Armstrong’s Maker Lab and STEM initiatives. Additionally, Martesi created the school’s technical support team that is comprised of diverse learners, including special needs students. The student-led tech team, known as Tiger Techs, is the cornerstone of Armstrong’s technology program. Her Tiger Tech program is the model and blueprint for all the Verizon Innovative Learning schools to utilize.

Martesi has not only been vitally involved in academics, but also other areas of student life. For more than fifteen years, she organizes week-long outdoor educational trips for her students that help them hone their communication, student leadership and pro-social skills for more than fifteen years. Now, Martesi plans this education program for 200+ students district-wide. She was the head varsity field hockey coach at Truman for several years and has also been a team member of the Student Assistance Program and Leadership Teams during her career at Armstrong. 

Martesi was recognized as a Keystone Technology Innovator in 2018 and won the Inspiring Women ESPN Verizon Learning Award in 2016. She was also featured in a national commercial for Verizon’s humanability campaign in 2017-2018 about closing the digital divide. 

Martesi received her bachelor of science from St. Joseph’s University and her masters of education from Cabrini University. She then went on to graduate from Holy Family University for her masters of educational leadership: educational administration. 

Bernadette Hannah-Barone is new assistant principal of Armstrong Middle School

Hannah-Barone, now the assistant principal of Armstrong Middle School, has been an educator in Bristol Township School District for more than 25 years, teaching at elementary, middle and high school levels.

“I am excited to serve as assistant principal at Armstrong Middle School and am looking forward to the opportunity to serve the Bristol Township Educational Community in an administrative capacity,” said Hannah-Barone. 

For the past eight years, she has been an instructional coach at FDR Middle School, where she supervised the management and implementation of the 1:1 program awarded by the Verizon Foundation and Digital Promise. She helped to sustain the program by writing a $100,000 Extension Grant.

Since 2017, Hannah-Barone has also supervised the first of its kind, Verizon Innovative Learning School’s state-of-the-art maker-space at FDR Middle School. She worked closely with district administrators, architects and Verizon representatives to design and plan the technological endeavor. Within this space, she provided informational technology and computer science instruction to eighth-grade students, known as Tiger Techs, who are student leaders who offer information technology support to students and staff. She has collaboratively worked with Arizona State University to develop and implement a design thinking curriculum that focuses on Virtual and Augmented Reality. FDR’s Innovation Lab and the Student Tech Team models have been replicated in all of Verizon’s Innovation Labs. 

Hannah-Barone has facilitated professional development to teachers in Bristol Township, as well as Bucks, and Montgomery counties. She has presented FDR’s technology program model at Verizon Innovative Schools across the country, and presented at the 2019 ISTE (International Society of Technology in Education) Conference. She also serves as an advisor on the Verizon Innovative Learning Schools Advisory Council.

Hannah-Barone graduated from Temple University with a B.S. in Education. She is a certified elementary, early childhood, special education, and Project Lead the Way teacher. She received her first masters from Holy Family University where she earned a PA Reading Specialist Certificate, and her second masters was acquired from Cabrini University in Educational Leadership. 

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