On Monday morning, the halls at Boynton Middle School were anything but quiet as students and faculty celebrated the news that Thomas Starratt was chosen as the state’s 2010 Middle School Principal of the Year.

Starratt shares the honor with Andrew Corey, the principal of Londonderry Middle School.

“I got the call at 9 a.m., on Monday morning,” said Starratt. “I didn’t think they would choose me because Boynton Middle School was chosen as the [2009] Middle School of the Year.”

Starratt’s secretary, Kathy Michaels, said Starratt no sooner got off the phone with a member of the New Hampshire Association of School Principals, that she told Vice Principal Chip Mecurio, who in turn decided to share the good news with the entire school.

“He went on the intercom, ‘I’m proud to announce that Mr. Starratt is the 2010 Middle School Principal of the Year,’” said Michaels. “The kids were screaming when it was announced. You could hear clapping in the classrooms.”

Starratt said he spent most of Monday receiving accolades from the students.
“It seemed to lift everyone’s spirits,” he said. “Students were smiling and high-fiving me throughout the day.”

In order to be considered for Middle School Principal of the Year, Starratt said, someone from within the school district has to nominate you.

“Leo [Corriveau] nominated me,” said Starratt, but it was the letters from teachers and parents from within the school district that brought him through the first phase of the selection process.

Starratt said the letters written by the parents really touched his heart.

“They brought tears to my eyes,” he said. “People think I’m reserved, but I feel things deeply.”

As part of the criteria in the selection process, Starratt had to answer several questions, including “Who do you consider a hero and why?”

Starratt’s response was heartfelt. “Surely you must have met single parents who battle to raise their children by themselves, providing them not only food and shelter, but also giving them their time and attention...” wrote Starratt. “At night when they come home from work, they resist the urge to fall asleep on the couch. They ask their children about their day and listen carefully to what they have to say.”

Starratt also supplied an answer to the question, “What do you consider the best and worst part of your job?”

Starratt wrote that the worst part of his job tends to occur on Friday afternoons, or on the last day before a school vacation. “This is when we tend to need to call the Department of Child and Youth Services... There always seems to remain a level of frustration for us that some of our students have to work through such bad experiences... I am grateful that we can help them get through difficult times, but saddened that they are unable to avoid them to begin with.”

In November, the NH Association of School Principals visited Boynton Middle School for a final look at Starratt, who had become one of two final contenders for the coveted honor.

Starratt said he was prepared to impress, and even broke out the school’s sweetest asset. “We had the chocolate fountain going,” he said.

The students praising their principal to the association also helped keep Starratt in the running. “They had a great time talking about their principal,” said Starratt.

Yet for some reason, the NH Association of School Principals could not make a decision between Starratt and the middle school principal from Londonderry.

“They were stumped,” said Starratt, adding that the association met on at least four different occasions to select one middle school principal of the year, but could not reach a decision so they decided to bestow the honor upon both men.

“I am surprised and humbled by this,” said Starratt.

This story appears on Page 1 of the Jan. 14 Ledger-Transcript.