September 10, 2023

Dear PS 174 Families,

Welcome to the start of an exciting 2023-2024 school year. I am Dr. Hazel-Ann Lewis, and I am delighted to serve as Principal I.A. at PS 174, after the recent retirement and lifelong service of Principal Karin Kelly.

Over the course of the first week, I had the pleasure of meeting and greeting many of our parents. I am looking forward to meeting all our families in the coming days. In the meantime, here are some things that I would like to share with you about me. I am a passionate school administrator with a wealth of educational experience at the elementary and middle school levels for the last 33 years. Some of my accomplishments as a relentless educator are my work with Gifted and Talented Educational Programs, Bilingual Education, staff and curriculum development and data analysis.

As a lifelong learner, I pursued and earned my Doctorate in Educational Leadership because quality leadership is important to our children’s success. Additionally, this June, I graduated with a Master’s and Advanced Certificate in Mental Health Counseling. This has been a long journey borne out of the huge social emotional and mental health gap brought on by the pandemic. I felt that in order to begin to be my best as a school leader, I needed to acquire more tools to continue to advocate for all stakeholders.

I am a reflective and collaborative principal, who is able to honor and partner with our families at PS174, as we strive for excellence. Part of my core belief is that caring and inclusivity should not be rarities in education, it should be who we are and what we do because the lives of our children from all cultures matter. I welcome you as our parents sharing ideas and concerns because your voice matters! Your partnership is of the extreme importance to the wellbeing of our children. I have an open-door policy and I am looking forward to our collaboration. I firmly believe that together we will built on all the wonderful successes at PS 174.

My strengths as a leader are grounded in collaboration, problem-solving, communication and innovation. It is my vision to work closely with our parents to develop and implement policies and strategies to ensure that our school operates to its fullest potential. I plan for us to have monthly collaborative meetings to ensure that our children have the best educational experiences possible.

As your principal, I am here to promote excellence in education, and I am confident that as we continue to collaborate PS 174-William Sidney Mount will be “Soaring to Excellence!”

Yours in service,

Dr. Hazel-Ann Lewis-28Q174 I.A. Principal