The CUSD Board of Trustees has appointed Dr. Amy Peterman, a 1991 graduate of Ceres High School who is currently the district’s Deputy Superintendent of Educational Services, as the district’s next superintendent. She will succeed Dr. Denise Wickham who is retiring in June 2024.
“Dr. Peterman is a dynamic, forward-thinking leader who is wholeheartedly committed to Ceres Unified and the Ceres community,” said Board President Lourdes Perez. “We have every confidence in her ability to provide continuity of leadership, maintain our focus on excellence, and foster a shared vision that illuminates a bright path forward for CUSD.”
It was the quality of Ceres schools that first drew Amy’s parents, Steve and Patricia Kay Beaver, to make their home in Ceres in 1983. As Steve Beaver recalled in a family memoir, “After some thorough research, (Kay) told me that she thought we should live in the Ceres Unified School District because they seemed to have the best educational track record. So, we did.” Kay Beaver went on to teach for the district for many years, until her passing in 2001. CUSD’s Patricia Kay Beaver Leadership Magnet is named in her honor.
Amy attended Caswell Elementary and Mae Hensley Junior High before entering Ceres High School. There, she was involved in athletics – volleyball, basketball, and swimming – and took the school’s very first Advanced Placement class, AP Calculus. The class was led by a new teacher, Scott Siegel, who would become superintendent nearly two decades later.
“I don’t even know if ‘Committed to excellence, responsive to every student’ was the motto when I started school here, but it really did feel like the staff went above and beyond to give students everything they needed to succeed,” Amy recalled. “That culture has only grown stronger over the past 30 years.”
After college, Amy taught in Escalon and Manteca before returning to her Ceres roots in 2004 as Assistant Principal at Ceres High School. She has also served as Principal of Sam Vaughn Elementary and Central Valley High School, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services and Educational Services and, since 2021, in her current role as Deputy Superintendent. Peterman has led the district’s focus on providing equitable opportunities that support positive outcomes for all students. She is also an active member of the Soroptimist of Ceres service club.
“It’s just a little surreal that I’m sitting here on the verge of taking this position. I am 100 percent ready to give everything I have to this district that has given so much to my family and me,” said Amy, whose two adult daughters also attended Ceres schools, graduating from Central Valley High School. “I feel such a sense of pride in being given this chance to continue the legacy built by so many great leaders before me.” Amy, who resides in Ceres with her husband, Steve, will assume her new role on July 1, 2024.
