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Date: 3/23/2022
HUNTINGTON – At the start of the Gateway Regional School Committee meeting on March 15, elementary school Principal Megan Coburn’s announcement that she would be leaving after 12 years at Gateway to take a position with the Collaborative for Educational Services was the main topic of discussion.
“Although I will miss our amazing school community, I look forward to the challenges this new position has to offer,” Coburn said in a letter to committee members before the meeting.
“Our staff is an outstanding group of people and I’m proud of the time and effort that we’ve all put into making the elementary schools caring learning environments for our students,” she went on to say, adding, “My interactions with your children [are] by far the best part of being a principal and my day. I will miss their friendly greetings in the hallways, the excitement of the first day of school, and watching them grow from kindergartners to teenagers that still say hello when I pass them in the hallways of the high school.”
In response, Student Council liaison Joseph Pisani echoed some of Coburn’s words in a tribute to her from all of the students. He said there was a sense of unity in the reaction to the news among the student body.
“All are very sad that Ms. Coburn is leaving,” Pisani said, thanking her on behalf of the entire student body of Chester and Littleville elementary schools.
Pisani added that “it’s rare that an entire room of teenagers agree on anything, but all are in agreement about how much she helped them,” he said. Coburn, who was participating in the meeting via Zoom, was visibly touched by his remarks.
Also remarking on Coburn’s departure was Russell Finance Committee member Ruth Kennedy, who said, “She will be missed.”
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Kristen Smidy said one of the three priorities of her six-month entry plan is to reconfigure the positions of principal and vice principal in the district’s two elementary schools. Coburn currently serves as principal of both Chester and Littleville. The schools serve kindergarten through Grade 6 in Blandford, Chester and Middlefield, and Huntington, Montgomery and Russell, respectively.
“With Megan’s departure, it’s important for the elementary school to have a successful transition. I am recommending changing the structural model to a dedicated principal for each school; a universal comment from the feedback,” Smidy said, adding, “I think it’s going to benefit the district.”
School Committee Chester representative Jason Forgue asked whether the assistant elementary principal, Darlene Rehor, would be considered for the position. Smidy said she would be a viable candidate.
“I would want the School Committee’s input, but it is the superintendent’s responsibility,” Smidy said, adding that she will be hiring an interim principal now to get through the rest of the school year. She said Gateway has already posted the interim position, and she is pleased with the people who are applying for the job.
Smidy said the second priority in her entry plan is the need to promote the high school’s two Chapter 74 vocational programs, welding and early childhood education and care, and to promote its after-school programs.
She said the current communications director will take on a new role to promote programming in an intentional way, to market the two vocational programs, and to obtain grants.
Smidy said she will allocate additional rural aid to fund the communication position, as well as using tuition revenue from out-of-district students, and will keep a close eye on the position.
Smidy said her third priority is the need to focus on having an excellent curriculum for all students in kindergarten to 12th grade, employing consistent practices and high-quality instructional materials. To make that happen, the curriculum director will become a full-time position, funded by the federal Title II program, she said.
“Those are the three main priority areas,” Smidy told the committee.