Norwich — School started with a serious business meeting in the office of the John B. Stanton School Monday morning, with Superintendent Abby Dolliver, Principal Billie Shea and a state Department of Education representative reviewing attendance data mandated in the state-funded school improvement plan.

Recess started at 9 a.m., when Shea went to answer the front door security buzzer, turned around to the main hallway to the shout of “Surprise!” The hallway was filled with students, Shea’s mother and several other family members, school administrators, staff and Board of Education members. Dozens of party balloons were released to the ceiling.

Dolliver stepped forward and handed Shea the letter confirming her as the Connecticut Association of Schools First-Year Principal of the Year Award winner for 2014-15.

School officials managed to keep the celebration secret, ushering guests in through side doors and hiding them in the Family Resource Center preschool room before the celebration. Dolliver told only the few staff members she needed to plan the surprise and ordered them to keep it confidential. Shea’s family got the word as well.

The William Cieslukowski Outstanding First-Year Principal of the Year Award is named in memory of a Norwich native who served as principal in East Hampton and Killingworth schools. His sister, Carol Cieslukowski of Norwich, attended Monday’s ceremony.

“Me?” she said incredulously as Dolliver handed her the letter. Someone put a tiara on Shea’s head and handed her a bouquet of flowers. She was mobbed by students as she made her way up and down the long main hallway of screaming, cheering students and staff.

Students didn’t learn the reason they were cheering their popular principal until after their first chants of “Ms. Shea, Ms. Shea, Ms. Shea.”

Shea, 44, who grew up in Preston, is a nine-year veteran of the Norwich school system. She  took over as principal of Stanton School last school year. She started as the literacy specialist at Stanton three years ago, when the school was first selected as one of four low-performing schools in the Commissioner’s Network.

Shea helped develop the school turnaround plan and was named principal at the start of the 2013-14 school year.

“I feel honored,” Shea said. “It’s only because of the team we have. You’re only as good as your team.”

That statement didn’t surprise Cindy Beauregard, Stanton Family Resource Center site coordinator, and Lisa Meaike, school family liaison — a position created in the turnaround plan. The two were put in charge of the surprise celebration last week by Dolliver.

“She’s so deserving,” Beauregard said. “She’s the definition of teamwork.”

Michelle Rosado, education consultant for the state Department of Education, has visited Stanton every five to six weeks for updates on the turnaround plan’s progress. She visited the school Monday ostensibly to review attendance data.

“What makes her stand out is that she always is trying to improve,” Rosado said. “She includes everybody in decisions about the school. That makes her an outstanding leader in how she runs the school. She totally deserves this.”

“It is rare to find an individual like Billie who combines a high level of expertise with a passion for education,” Stanton School literacy and data specialist Jane Cook wrote in her nomination letter. “She has extraordinary empathy and understanding for the students. Billie serves as a positive role model for staff and students alike. Billie has taken on the incredibly challenging and difficult work of turning around one of the lowest performing schools in the state, and she is succeeding.”

Shea will receive the award Nov. 19 at a CAS awards banquet at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington.

“She’s wonderful,” third-grader Lucia Perez, 8, said of Shea.

“She’s the best principal in the world,” said her classmate Trinity Prieto, 9.

c.bessette@theday.com

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