David Hudzick, principal of Clarence A. Piggott Academy of International Studies, poses in front of the elementary school Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021. Hudzick was recently named a National Distinguished Principal for Nevada by the National Association of Elementary School Principals.
Monday, Nov. 29, 2021 | 2 a.m.
Principal David Hudzick has a large office at Clarence A. Piggott Academy of International Studies. It’s full of picture books and comfy chairs and toys, and has windows the length of one wall, allowing him to look out at a serene courtyard where butterflies flit around scarlet-red flowers.
He tries to spend as little time in the room as possible.
Hudzick said he would rather be poking straws into juice pouches in the cafeteria or tying shoes on the playground. This is part of how he’s made connections as principal for the past 13 years at the west valley elementary school, and some of what was recognized this year when he was named one of the best elementary school principals in the country by the National Association of Elementary School Principals.
“I’ve dedicated 26 years of my life to the Clark County School District,” he said. “That it was recognized nationally is such an honor.”
When Hudzick took the helm at Piggott in 2009, it was a standard neighborhood school with declining enrollment in Peccole Ranch, a 1990s-era master-planned community where residents were aging and fewer young kids were growing up.
After five years as principal, he took the opportunity to make Piggott a magnet school stressing the comprehensive, collegiate-style academics offered by the International Baccalaureate program. It’s a “pure” magnet, meaning it has no attendance boundaries and every child at Piggott is there by family choice. Both of these are uncommon for a Clark County elementary school.
The national principals organization typically selects one top principal per state. Hudzick picked up his plaque and trophy — an engraved, functional handbell — last month at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.
“Hudzick’s leadership is not limited to academics. He also works to position Piggott as a multipurpose community hub by advancing whole-child initiatives that aim to enrich student lives beyond the classroom, nurturing student interests through varied extracurricular opportunities,” his winner’s profile says. “He takes great pride in witnessing the impact of these efforts in students who go on to graduate as confident, well-rounded individuals. Hudzick has long been active with local charities and youth groups and is a trusted mentor for aspiring administrators.”
State Sen. Marilyn Dondero Loop, D-Las Vegas, also honored Hudzick with a state proclamation.
“Great educational leaders see opportunity where others have given up and in the process create profound educational opportunities that have a positive lifelong impact on the students they serve, such are the transformational changes ushered at Clarence A. Piggott Academy of International Studies by its distinguished principal David C. Hudzick,” it reads.
Before becoming a principal — all of his administrative experience is at Piggott — Hudzick taught kindergarten, second, third and fourth grades around town. He also taught in Pennsylvania, his home state.
He wants to know all 700 of his pupils. Every day, he stands at Piggott’s front doors to see every child enter and then leave for home.
Once he greeted a child by name and their parent was taken aback — they thought principals are only supposed to know those kids who have done something wrong. But Hudzick doesn’t believe that. He endeavors to know everyone’s name, even with masks now covering half their faces.
Recently, a girl told him that she’d be going out of town to visit her aunt for the Thanksgiving holiday. She sincerely hoped he would not miss her.
A boy years out of elementary school popped over to tell him how he was doing at the engineering program at Rancho High School.
“I know that they still think of me when they leave,” he said. He thinks of them, too. He’d like to know how his students from his first year of teaching are doing.
Optimism and hope keep him coming to work in a time of continual challenges. He says he always has hope.
And, he ties a lot of little shoes.
“It’s the little happy moments,” he said.
