Celebrating the Retirement of Lezlie Pierce


by Gretchen Troutman, Ph.D.


Lezlie Pierce, who has been a school psychologist in the Psychological Services Department since August of 1985, retired at the end of May.  No one currently on staff was here when Lezlie started 30 years ago.  At that time there were a total of 14 psychologists on staff, there are now 23 psychologists in the department.  During Lezlie’s first year with the school system she served Bolton Elementary, Old Town Elementary, Independence (an alternative school for middle and high school students), and South Park High School.  At that time South Park served all of the high school students in the school system with mental disabilities.  During Lezlie’s first year she had 110 re-evaluations just at that one school!  Of course there were no computers being used in the department in 1985 so all of the psychological reports were either dictated or handwritten and then typed by the secretaries on a typewriter.  Lezlie has served a number of different schools over the years and is currently at Meadowlark Elementary and Middle, Clemmons Elementary, and Ward Elementary.  Lezlie was the first preschool psychologist for the school system, serving in that role for three years.  When asked how the role of the school psychologist has changed during the past 30 years, Lezlie said the psychologists used to do a lot of system-wide training on identification of students for special education services, behavior management, and Effective Teacher Training.  After she retires she is planning to spend time getting her house in order and working in her yard.  She hopes to travel and do some volunteering.  Lezlie enjoys spending time riding her road bike around the Pfafftown and Lewisville area.  She and her husband, Doug, have two grown children.  Please join us in wishing Lezlie well as she begins this new chapter in her life.  Although we are excited for her, we will miss the wisdom, professionalism, enthusiasm, and humor she brought to our department.  It is especially noteworthy that after spending over 30 years in her role as a school psychologist, Lezlie still has a love and enjoyment for the profession.  People have always said she is passionate about her job.  She will be missed!


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