Continuity in Action: How Robert Berretta Helped Power a Smooth Leadership Transition
When Robert Berretta entered the Neubauer Fellowship in 2019 (Cohort 5), he had already felt the rush—and the weight—of principalship at William H. Ziegler Elementary School. The principal at Ziegler since 2016, and an educator from 2004, Dr. Berretta refined his lens throughout the Neubauer Fellowship: great ideas matter, but relationships and sustained support matter more. “Sometimes it’s not even the quality of your ideas that’s primary,” he reflects. “It’s the quality of the relationships you have with the people who need to lead the change you want to see.”
That insight has led to the continuing impact of Dr. Berretta’s work at Ziegler. As a community, Neubauer Fellows stay in school leadership longer and build stronger leadership careers than principals nationally. 92% of Neubauer Fellows remain in the principalship role year-over-year, compared to 80% nationally, with 83% of Neubauer Fellowship remaining in the principalship at least two years after their fellowship ends. Yet every leader faces inflection points—career changes, family needs, new learning, or shifting systems. The Fellowship doesn’t eliminate those realities; it equips leaders to navigate them thoughtfully and plan for continuity.
Like many Neubauer Fellows, Dr. Berretta strove to build capacity and empower emerging leaders at Ziegler. He first hired Nicole Patterson (2024 Neubauer Fellow, Cohort 8) as the school’s tech specialist—an expressive arts role that demanded skill, presence, and trust with students. Nicole quickly earned the respect of colleagues and began informally supporting students in the middle school hallway as they transitioned between classes. “She took on that challenge without any formal authority,” Dr. Berretta recalls. “That kind of initiative really stood out.”
Seeing Nicole’s potential, Dr. Berretta steadily expanded her scope: student culture lead with real ownership and autonomy, then instructional leadership in math. Weekly check-ins between the two focused on big-picture strategy rather than micromanagement. Alongside technical growth, Dr. Berretta emphasized emotional resilience for the principalship, a skill highlighted in the Neubauer Fellowship. “Being a principal in Philadelphia is very emotionally laborious,” he says. He openly encouraged Nicole to build her “emotional Kevlar vest;” the personal capacity and supports needed to sustain leadership work.
When Dr. Berretta began contemplating a transition—motivated by family, a full-time doctoral program, and a clear sense of his strengths in turnaround and capacity building—he prioritized continuity at Ziegler. Legacy wasn’t abstract; it was a commitment to people. “The most important thing I would probably do in all six years there was to find somebody to continue the legacy of the work our team had done,” he shares. While he had no formal role in the District’s principal selection, he encouraged Nicole to apply and articulated why her knowledge of the school and vision for the future mattered.
Dr. Berretta’s support didn’t end with the announcement of Nicole’s principalship. Throughout Nicole’s first year as principal, he scheduled regular Friday calls—serving as a sounding board for the inevitable highs and lows. He joined a screen share to walk through the budget, and whenever he was back in Philadelphia, he visited Ziegler, often bringing his children to see the school community that had shaped his own family story. “It feels silly to say I’m proud of a colleague, but I am,” Dr. Berretta says. “There’s nothing more important to us than other people taking care of the things we really love and I get so much relief and comfort from seeing her leadership at Ziegler.”
Today, Nicole Patterson is completing her Neubauer Fellowship, deepening the very capacities she began exercising under Dr. Berretta’s mentorship. She’s embraced the Fellowship’s “Story of Self” and Leadership Competencies, and she’s brought those practices back to her team—introducing competencies thoughtfully, focusing first on continuous improvement and equity, and creating space for reflection, authenticity, and trust. That intentional approach is already showing up in programmatic strength—from student culture to the continued development of Ziegler’s autistic support program, where integration and tailored supports are expanding students’ access and flourishing.
As another cohort prepares to join the Neubauer Fellowship in summer 2026, Nicole stands as both beneficiary and steward of its long-term vision. She’s investing in her team’s capacity, aligning competencies to Ziegler’s needs, and modeling how Fellowship learning becomes school-wide practice. The goal is bigger than short-term gains; it’s about sustainability—building systems, habits, and relationships that the next leader can inherit and expand.
Dr. Berretta’s story—and Nicole’s leadership—illustrate the Fellowship’s promise: when you invest deeply in a principal, you invest in a community. The impact outlives titles and tenures. It endures in the soil of a school, the strength of a team, and the flourishing of students who feel seen, supported, and ready to grow.