Union Street principal opts for short contract

One Springfield school’s loss is another’s gain: Springfield High School assistant principal Belinda “Bindy” Hathorn has been named principal at Union Street School.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20150703/NEWS02/707039937

Union Street principal opts for short contract By Susan Smallheer Staff Writer | July 03,2015 SPRINGFIELD — One Springfield school’s loss is another’s gain: Springfield High School assistant principal Belinda “Bindy” Hathorn has been named principal at Union Street School. Hathorn, 42, was the choice of the Springfield School Board Wednesday night to replace Martha Potter, who resigned in April to move to Arizona. Hathorn was hired on a 4-0 vote, according to School Board Chairwoman Jeanice Garfield, who said Ken Vandenburgh abstained, saying he needed additional information. Garfield said Hathorn, who was one of two finalists for the job at Union Street, one of the town’s elementary schools, will take the job on a one-year interim basis. Garfield said the position was designated as interim because, in her words, “Bindy wants to be sure.” Hathorn has been the assistant principal at Springfield High for the past 3½ years, and taught science there for 16 years. She said Thursday she has taught every science subject, with the exception of chemistry and physics, since coming to the high school. Hathorn’s path to teaching and administration wasn’t a traditional straight line, she said. She said she graduated from the University of Vermont with a degree in wildlife biology, and started working at the Vermont Institute of Science, when it was still in Woodstock. “I worked in the gift shop and conducted tours,” she said, to start, eventually becoming the site’s full-time educator and volunteer coordinator. But budget cutbacks eliminated her job, and she started substitute teaching in the White River Junction area. “I substituted K through 12 for all the local schools and liked it,” she said. She went back to UVM to get her post-baccalaureate teaching certificate and master’s degree, and worked in the Montpelier school system in 1998-99. She got her teaching certificate and accepted a job in Springfield. A native of Hartland Four Corners, she now lives in the White River Junction area. She said she made the switch to administration first in an effort to help out at the high school, which was going through a lot of change. “We had a lot of turnover, and I felt by getting my administrator’s license, I could help with that situation,” she said. Like teaching, she said she found she liked administration. Hathorn said she, the School Board, and even community members during last week’s “meet and greet” of the two finalists expressed concern she didn’t have much experience with the elementary grades, and that’s the reason for the interim position. “It was a concern. I’m not hiding anything. It’s a concern on both sides. The reason for the interim is to make sure it’s a good fit for both parties,” she said. Garfield said Hathorn is an experienced educator and knows the Springfield system well. The other finalist didn’t have the same level of experience, she said. “She’s a real nice gal, a very hard worker and very focused,” Garfield said. “She’s also pretty easy going. She’s dealt with so much stuff at the high school in my opinion, I think she’ll work well with the teachers and the parents.”