Three Fox C-6 School District elementary schools began the school year with new assistant principals.
The district began the school year on Tuesday.
Mike Saputo was named the assistant principal at Fox Elementary School in Arnold on Aug. 4. He had taught industrial arts at Fox High School for the last five years.
Saputo’s promotion to assistant principal filled the opening left by Casey Tinker, who transferred to the district’s Sherwood Elementary School after serving as Fox Elementary’s assistant principal for the last four years.
The Sherwood Elementary position was open because Shellie Manes moved to Fox C-6’s Guffey Elementary.
Manes had been Sherwood Elementary’s assistant principal for the last two years, and she moved to Guffey Elementary after that school’s assistant principal, Lisa Hazard, was promoted to principal following the retirement of Jackie Waller. Manes taught at Guffey Elementary for 18 years before becoming an assistant principal.
Tinker will be paid $102,498 as Sherwood Elementary’s assistant principal. Manes will be paid $97,166 as Guffey Elementary’s assistant principal. Saputo will be paid $91,516.45 as Fox Elementary’s assistant principal after collecting a salary of $71,636 as a teacher last school year.
Fox Elementary also has a new principal this school year.
Jeremy Conley, who had been Meramec Heights Elementary’s assistant principal since 2024, was named the school’s principal in April. He replaced Jennifer Fritz, who retired after last school year.
Brad Cookson, who taught at Seckman Middle School for the last nine years, was promoted in June to assistant principal at Meramec Heights Elementary.
Saputo
Saputo, 36, of Barnhart has worked at Fox C-6 for the last 11 years.
He started his teaching career in 2013 as a science teacher at Mehlville High, and he started working at Fox C-6 in 2015 as a science and Project Lead the Way teacher at Seckman High.
Saputo started working at Fox High in 2021, teaching Project Lead the Way and industrial arts and woodworking courses.
Saputo, who also has served as a summer school assistant principal for the last three years, said he has wanted to move into a school administrator role for a while and the Fox Elementary opening stood out to him.
“I was excited about the chance to work with students and teachers at the elementary level and to become part of a school community where relationships can have such a tremendous impact on students early in their educational experience,” he said.
Nathan Burch, Fox C-6 assistant superintendent of human resources, said 21 people applied for the Fox Elementary assistant principal position. He said four internal applicants were interviewed during the committee round.
Burch said Saputo was selected to be Fox Elementary’s next assistant principal because of his leadership experience and understanding of the school’s needs.
“Saputo is a confident, student-focused leader with strong ties to the Fox community and a commitment to building positive relationships and a safe, supportive school culture,” Burch said.
Saputo is a former Fox C-6 student. He went to Lone Dell Elementary and Fox Middle, and he graduated from Fox High.
He is married to Sarah Saputo, who teaches second grade at Antonia Elementary, and the couple has two daughters, Maybree and Mariella.
Tinker
Tinker, 42, of Arnold moved from Fox Elementary to Sherwood Elementary on July 16, Fox C-6 officials said.
She said she is looking forward to working with Jessica Meeks, who is entering her eighth year as Sherwood Elementary’s principal.
“(Meeks) has done wonderful things over there,” Tinker said. “Her test scores are very high. She is very data driven. She is very good at what she does. I took the opportunity as a learning opportunity because I have aspirations of becoming a principal.”
Tinker began her career in 2007 as a special-education teacher at St. Clair High School, and she came to Fox C-6 in 2009 as a special-education teacher at Fox High.
She left Fox C-6 in 2017 to become a special-education process coordinator for the Hillsboro R-3 School District. In 2019, she was named the assistant principal at Hillsboro Elementary.
Tinker said she returned to Fox C-6 because the district is in her home city. She also is married to Fox High physical education teacher and varsity football coach Brent Tinker, and the couple’s children, Sam and Lyla, attend Fox Middle School.
“We are in the community,” she said. “We live here. It is a nice connection.”
Tinker said she believes her background blends well with Meeks.
“I have a background in remediation and behavior,” she said. “(Meeks) She is very good at test scores, PLCs (professional learning communities) and the instruction piece. With us having two backgrounds, we can learn from each other. I think it will be a great partnership.”
Manes
Manes, 44, of Arnold said returning to Guffey Elementary in an administrative role was a career goal.
“For the opportunity to come up for me to be able to do that was amazing,” she said.
Manes started her teaching career in 2006 as a second grade teacher at Guffey Elementary. After teaching second grade for five years, she became a fifth grade teacher at the school for the next nine years before transitioning to teaching third grade. She taught third grade at Guffey Elementary for five years before being named Sherwood Elementary’s assistant principal in 2024.
Manes said even though she considers Guffey Elementary home, it was not easy to leave Sherwood Elementary. District officials said Manes was named Guffey Elementary’s assistant principal on July 16.
“The staff and community is amazing (at Sherwood Elementary),” Manes said. “It was a difficult decision. There is something to be said for coming back home.”
Manes said she is getting to know students, families and staff members who were not at Guffey Elementary when she left.
“There has been some staff changes,” she said. “There has been a lot of new families also. I am getting to know those families, so I can support them as well.”
Manes began her journey in Fox C-6 as a student. She attended Clyde Hamrick Elementary, Seckman Junior High and was part of Seckman High’s second graduating class.
She and her husband, Marty Manes, have three children – Braden Christman and twins, Hadley and Maddux.