 | | | Toni McShane, pictured in her office at Stanley Middle School, is known for her positive guidance. Photo Cathy Tyson | | | | | | Toni McShane was named Lafayette's Citizen of the Year for 2014. Having worked for the last 24 years with the Lafayette School District, she's well-known by scores of kids and their parents. This warm, mild-mannered enforcer of school policies, who is the assistant principal of Stanley Middle School, will wrap up her tenure and retire at the end of this school year. She's worked a total of 41 years, including 24 years with the Lafayette School District; she estimates in that time she's had about "15 bad days." "Find a job that you love," is her advice. McShane says she's no different from all of the incredibly committed teachers at the school.The one thing she won't miss is chaperoning school dances; with roughly 140 now under her belt, she figures she has two more left.
Post-retirement, McShane says she'll miss the wonderful staff she's worked with, but plans to visit with her kids and their 11 grandchildren, most of whom live relatively close by.
She grew up in a tiny town in Idaho, just across the border from Jackson Hole, Wyo., where she loved to ski. She moved to the Bay Area for high school and graduated from College of Notre Dame in Belmont, Calif. She was a teacher for many years and obtained a master's degree in leadership from Saint Mary's College, becoming the assistant principal at Stanley in 1996.
McShane will be honored by the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce with a special dinner at the Lafayette Park Hotel on March 28. Contact the chamber for ticket information, (925) 284-7404.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA