A new principal has been named at Union Street School.The Springfield School District board voted unanimously Wednesday night to appoint Philip Trejo as the new leader of the elementary school.
www.eagletimes.com
Union Street school getting new principal By KATY SAVAGE ksavage@eagletimes.com 2 hrs ago 0 SPRINGFIELD, Vt. -— A new principal has been named at Union Street School. The Springfield School District board voted unanimously Wednesday night to appoint Philip Trejo as the new leader of the elementary school. Trejo lives in Detroit and is currently the director of American Promise Schools — a network of five schools in Michigan that ensure students have equal access to education, according for information provided by the board. Trejo has experience leading schools in both Detroit and Colorado. He was also previously a superintendent of a school district and director of a community college. Trejo will take over for Union Street Principal Nancy Wiese. Wiese, who had been in the school district for 20 years, resigned March 26 after her contract was not renewed. An online petition was circulated in early April in support of keeping Wiese at Union Street. The search for principal lasted about a month. The board said four of the 14 candidates went through an extensive interview process that involved a total of 31 people from four search committees — a teacher committee, building support staff committee, parent committee and an administrator committee. Trejo was chosen for his previous ability to turn struggling schools around, said Springfield School District Superintendent Zach McLaughlin. Springfield’s students, including students at Union Street, have previously underperformed on national tests compared to others. “No individual person is going to change a school on their own,” said McLaughlin, who hoped Trejo would work with staff to improve Union Street. advertisement Union Street has 270 students in grades three to five. “We have got to improve our academic outcomes at that school,” McLaughlin said. The board authorized Trejo a yearly salary between $95,000 and $98,000. Board Chairman Ed Caron said it seemed like Trejo was the appropriate person for Union Street. This isn’t the only change at the school. Union Street School third grade teacher Elizabeth Harty recently resigned to take a principal position closer to where she lives, according to her resignation letter. Harty’s resignation was accepted at a school district meeting on Monday night. Harty’s last day is June 30.
Hope he will be living in Springfield
ReplyDeleteFrom the sounds of the article he should be our superintendent. I could care less if he lives in Springfield, from the sounds of it he has dealt with far worse schools. I hope the best for him. At this point I feel all the principals should be replaced with the exception of Riverside. Let’s start at the high school.
ReplyDeleteLet's start higher, like say, the school board, Zach McLaughlin and then see the changes.
DeleteWhy even have a local school board? Have one board for the entire state, and each town have a school superintendent. Vermont spends more on school administration per student than EVERY OTHER STATE! It's thoroughly unnecessary and costs taxpayers a ton of money, with no tangible results. Too many cooks spoil the soup!
DeleteI currently have a child at Riverside and disagree with your comment because discipline at that school is terrible. A visit to the principles office is nothing for the students to worry about.
DeleteWe could make Springfield a world-class school district, moving it from the bottom of Vermont's highly-ranked public schools to the top AND saving about 30% of what we now spend.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that nobody who has read this thread appears to have any interest in the possibility of Springfield having a world-class school district. Maybe it's part of the shop town mentality...
ReplyDeleteChuck, it's just that no one cares what you have to say. Better off continuing spamming up the AgedUnderAchievers/SpringfieldVermontDemocrats FB page.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind being the messenger who gets shot, but people not considering the message is indicative of something.
ReplyDeletePeople complain so much about school taxes (we vote down the town budget zero percent of the time and the school budget almost 50% of the time), you would think they'd be interested in having a school system that would not only be world-class and the best in the state, but thirty percent cheaper! So, there's something going on here....
Chuck, you're not listening. We all want the children to have a great education. No one is interested in your alternative facts or the dribble that accompanies it.
Delete"We all want the children to have a great education."
DeleteNo. You. Don't.
It's pretty clear that you don't care a fig about three of Springfield's schools rating near the bottom in the state rankings.
The only question would be why. Possible reasons are:
1. You believe the education you got (before the Moon landing, the invention of the eight-track tape, the cordless phone, the Internet and voice recognition technology) is good enough for today's kids.
2. You care more about paying taxes to run the schools.
3. You have always counted on the factory owners to tell you what's best for Springfield.
4. Like the woman about to marry a known abuser, you know what's ahead but it won't be anything you can't endure.
5. You don't want the best for your children.
6. You've always been miserable in Springfield and there's no way that you are going to make it any better for anybody else.
Chuck- why do you relate every subject on the blog to domestic abuse? It sounds like you and your partner need a safe word...
DeleteDear Mr. Gregory,
ReplyDeleteYes, there are many of us that desire our schools to be "World Class" in the educational services to be provided to all our students. I believe we will start to move towards that goal. It will take time but very doable.
7:08, your belief is unfounded. Those who are in a position to move things forward range from a school board member who asked me, "Would you like to know why it can't be done here?" to principals who could not go beyond promoting the present innovations wrought in their term, to parents who were confused by the nature of the subject and to administrators who eagerly anticipated the next top-down reform.
DeleteIt took 30 years for Finland to fashion their world-class school system. Given the mortmain of the shop town mentality, it'll probably take 30 years just for the notion to get planted in Springfield minds.
chuck has been spewing this vague nonsense for years. It's interesting that he hasn't come over from Chester to participate in our school board process.
Delete