Mrs. Patty Wood serves in the role under many titles including Principal and Superintendent. Mrs. Wood grew up in Jamestown, New York. The diploma from State University of New York at Geneseo hangs on her wall proudly. After pursuing her career in teaching where she taught grades six, and grades one and two, she attended Nazareth College in Rochester, New York for her Master’s Degree as a Reading Specialist. Rochester City School District is a difficult district and represents the same demographics as the Flint and Detroit City School Districts.

After four years of teaching in Rochester, her husband was transferred to Flint through General Motors. As Mrs. Wood adjusted to Michigan, she worked for a short time as a Title One Intervention teacher in the South Bendle School District. She and her husband were blessed with the opportunity to adopt a newborn in 1992. Patty stayed home to raise their son. As she explains, her son was not a traditional school student, so she started to look at alternatives for his education. The timing was at the very beginning of the charter school movement and the same time that Grand Blanc Academy was constructed. After much research and excitement, they enrolled their son into the program at Grand Blanc Academy. Patty decided to volunteer at the school and later was invited to be a substitute teacher during the first year of operation. She was then offered a full-time job for the next school year teaching first grade. “Grand Blanc Academy was a new challenge for me and I was thrilled to have become part of the foundation of the school!” Her second year she taught first grade again and then decided to loop with that class to second grade. During that school year, she was nominated as Disney Teacher of the Year.

Mrs. Wood then advanced her career at GBA to become the Reading Specialist and the Language Arts Facilitator. The following year she worked in the capacity of Assistant Principal. At that time with much encouragement from her mentor, she decided to pursue her Administration Degree at Oakland University. She was awarded her Education Specialist degree in May 2007. She moved on to be the school leader for Arts and Technology Academy of Pontiac. Principal Wood was then invited back to GBA to be the principal and superintendent. She has been there for over 10 years and is looking forward to continued growth with the student body and the wonderful Grand Blanc Academy staff. This past year she was nominated for the MAPSA Administrator of the Year.

As we enter this new school year, with growing anxiety over educational and health needs, she reflects back to her core value of relationships. Her philosophy is that any person, adult, or child that crosses her path in a day should feel better about himself or herself when they leave than when they arrived. Principal Wood strives to be the role model and mentor to her staff and to all the students of GBA. She has the student’s interest at the forefront of every decision that she makes. Grand Blanc Academy is a safe and special place to learn! “I appreciate that parents entrust their children to us!” We work with parents and families to create citizens that will change the world for the better as they grow and learn! She truly lives the mission of igniting growth, imagination, and dreams.

Mrs. Wood lives with her husband of 36 years in the Grand Blanc Area. She enjoys reading, golfing, and time with family and friends.