Staff Report
HARTLAND — The search for an interim principal got little response, so the school board has hired a familiar face.
Shaun Pickett, the mentor to outgoing Principal Jeff Moreno, was asked to step in. He will be the part-time interim principal for one year.
Pickett gave Moreno a teaching job at South Royalton School when Moreno was 21, just after graduating from the University of Vermont.
Pickett started July 1. He’ll be in the Hartland school building two days a week or more. Dean of Students Angie Ladeau will be assistant principal, overseeing the day-today activities when Pickett isn’t there and Mary Margaret Hitchcock, who has been a teacher at the school for 30 years, will be the teacher leader, handling academic integrity and instructional improvement.
With the future of the school in limbo due to Act 46, the school board set out to find a new interim principal at Hartland Elementary School after Moreno resigned in May.
“We put an ad in (education jobs website SchoolSpring.com) looking for a one-year interim, but didn’t get a huge response and couldn’t find someone that we thought would be a good fit for our school,” said school board chair Bettina Read in an email.
The supervisory union once considered creating a regional high school in Windsor but that would mean sacrificing school choice at the three elementary schools. Pickett, 59, lives in Pomfret. He was principal for 26 years at the South Royalton School before he retired four years ago. He’s since mentored a handful of principals, offering tips and advice. He mentored Moreno for two years. He also mentored Albert Bridge School Principal Jenifer Aldrich and Windsor Schools Principal Tiffany Cassano. This year he’ll be mentoring Maggie Mills, the new principal at Woodstock Elementary.
Pickett served as interim principal at the Newton School in South Strafford the year after he retired. Last year he was interim principal at Roxbury Village School in Northfield.
“The hardest thing about retirement is not being around children,” he said.
He’s familiar with Hartland Elementary School and the supervisory union through his mentorships.
“I don’t want it to be a wasted year. They’re making progress in a lot of areas and I want to continue to help them do that,” Pickett said.
Meanwhile Moreno, who lives in Hartford, is starting his position as assistant principal and athletic director at Hartford High School.
“While we would have preferred to have a full-time interim principal, we believe the team we have put together will serve the school well and will maintain and continue some important initiatives in academic and behavior,” Read said.
The board will form a search committee of community members, staff and board members to find a full-time principal after Thanksgiving, until then, Pickett will lead the school.
“The board felt he would be good because of his knowledge of our school and staff, and we knew of his stellar reputation as a principal prior to his retirement,” Read said.
This article first appeared in the July 8, 2016 edition of the Vermont Standard.