RVTC to welcome new chief

In a way, Judy Pullinen will be returning home when she becomes the new director of the River Valley Technical Center this summer.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100317/NEWS02/3170372/1003/NEWS02 # # # # RVTC to welcome new chief • Rutland Herald • By Josh O'Gorman STAFF WRITER - Published: March 17, 2010 • SPRINGFIELD — In a way, Judy Pullinen will be returning home when she becomes the new director of the River Valley Technical Center this summer. • "A lot of people don't know this about me, but I used to be a teacher at RVTC," said Pullinen, who after three years is leaving her position as superintendent of the Rutland Windsor Supervisory Union, which oversees schools in Ludlow, Mount Holly and Plymouth. "I taught the human services program for a good part of my career." • Pullinen will replace departing director Carl Mock, who is retiring to spend more time with his family. Pullinen is also looking forward to more free time. "It's not that I dislike my job here. I want to be clear on that. I have some wonderful principals and I love working with them. But it's a lot of work. I'll be honest with you," said Pullinen, who went to 113 meetings last year. "The opportunity to go to the tech center, well, some of the best years of my career were spent there." • Pullinen taught at RVTC from 1992 until 2001, when she became the principal of Riverside Middle School in Springfield, a post she held until 2007, when she took the superintendent job with RWSU. "What's really cool is that a lot of the kids I had at the middle school are now at the tech center," said Pullinen, who said as a superintendent she missed the closer interaction with students. • "The kids are there because they want to be there," Pullinen said of RVTC. "It's a very different sort of education delivery system." • Pullinen pointed to a number of improvements in the supervisory union during her time, such as expanding professional development for teachers and the renovation of Black River Union High School. • "Also, I think we did a really good job listening to residents and keeping the budget down in a number of frugal and creative ways," she said. The Union 39 budget of $3,663,463 was approved by a wide margin by voters at town meeting and is an increase of $46,802, or 1.2 percent, more than the current budget of $3,616,661. • On March 10, the RWSU Board met and began discussing its search for a new superintendent. •