SUSD Board Approves Marianne Bursi
As Principal At Copper Ridge Middle School

Marianne McMurrin Bursi begins her position as principal at Copper Ridge Middle School on April 1, following tonight's action by the Governing Board of the Scottsdale Unified School District. She replaces Brian Corte, who recently was selected as the new principal at Desert Mountain High School.

Ms. Bursi has a master's degree in education administration and supervision, from Arizona State University, and a bachelor's degree in elementary education, also from ASU.

In 1994, Ms. Bursi joined the Shaker Heights City School District in Shaker Heights, Ohio, as an enrichment specialist in the area of gifted and talented education. Most recently, she was principal at Shaker Heights Middle School, where she provided leadership to more than 850 students and 100 faculty members. Previously, Ms. Bursi was an assistant principal at Shaker Heights High School.

In addition to her teaching and administrator positions in Ohio, Ms. Bursi was a teacher for 10 years in Arizona, with experience in three different districts. From 1987 to 1994 she was an elementary teacher and a middle school science teacher in the Tempe Elementary School District, from 1985 to 1987 she was a K-8 coordinator/instructor for the gifted in the Laveen School District, and from 1984-1985 she was a sixth grade teacher for the gifted in the Chandler Unified School District.

Copper Ridge Middle School is SUSD's newest middle school, opening its doors to about 340 students for the first time on August 13, 2001.
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The Scottsdale Unified School District has 33 schools serving more than 27,000 students. Roughly 3,000 persons are employed by the District, including 1,829 teachers. The District celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1996. The District's boundaries include most, but not all of the city of Scottsdale, almost all of the town of Paradise Valley, a section of the city of Phoenix, and a section of the city of Tempe.