Norfolk Public Schools is pleased to announce that Cori Pena, Nurse, Jefferson, Westside, and Woodland Park Elementary and Little Panthers Preschool, is the winner of the NPS Award for Excellence for May 2023.
Thank you, Cori Pena, for your dedication, hard work, and service to our students, staff, and the NPS community!
Listed below are excerpts from some of the submitted narratives of Mrs. Pena's nomination:
- Cori puts in a lot of extra time, and goes above and beyond what her job is to make sure that all of the students under her care are safe and well taken care of. She changes her schedule multiple times to accommodate staff and parents to have meetings to set up care plans for students with special needs. She takes time to work with Lunch Time Solutions to make sure that there aren't any foods that should not be served to a certain student or should not even be in a certain school. She is always so understanding when training any staff member that needs to take care of a child’s medical needs. Cori is always friendly and positive in everything she does. Cori is very humble and I am sure she will say that she doesn’t need this recognition, but I believe she is very deserving.
- Cori does an excellent job. She is extremely knowledgeable in her position. Staff and administration call on her regularly with any questions and she always has an appropriate answer or she finds it for you quickly. She is firm, yet caring with staff, students, and parents. She works very hard and puts in whatever time is necessary at the beginning of the year to ensure a smooth start to the year. She is an exceptional school nurse and we are extremely fortunate to have her.
- At the preschool level, Cori has done a nice job of handling the amount of paperwork that goes with enrolling 240 preschool students and ensuring that they have the necessary immunizations for starting preschool. We also have many students with significant allergies and medical issues that require training and formalized processes to ensure their safety and Cori does an excellent job of communicating with the team about the child's needs.
Cori officially received her award at the Board of Education meeting on Monday, May 8, 2023. Please congratulate Cori on this well-deserved award!
