Interim Principal Bob LaRoche will be taking up his role as the principal of Wilton-Lyndeborough’s elementary schools permanently next year.
The official change of leadership at Florence Rideout Elementary School will be accompanied by another administrative change, as Wilton-Lyndeborough Middle/High School principal Brian Bagley announced in November he intends to retire at the end of the school year.
During its Feb. 20 meeting, the Wilton-Lyndeborough School Board approved candidates for both principal positions, after a preliminary process which included community input and finalist interviews.
The School Board approved LaRoche as principal of Florence Rideout Elementary and Lyndeborough Central School, at a salary of $96,350. At the same meeting, it also approved Peter Weaver as principal for the middle/high school, at a salary of $96,000.
LaRoche, who has been heading the Lyndeborough Central and Florence Rideout Elementary School this year after the departure of former principal Tim O’Connell is the official choice to fill the position permanently.
LaRoche comes from an administrative background, most recently having served as a principal in Massachusetts for 11 years, and prior to that as an assistant principal for five years. Before he was an administrator, his background was in teaching middle school grades Social Studies and reading.
LaRoche has both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and additional education experience at University of Massachusetts, Lowell.
In an interview Monday, LaRoche said he’s typically worked in much larger school districts, but has come to enjoy the benefits of a smaller school, and being able to interact more with individual students, teachers and parents.
“It’s a new setting for me, being a smaller school system,” LaRoche said. “Because it’s small, I was able to get to know a lot of people quickly. Parents are very involved. The strongest thing here is the community.”
LaRoche said when he took over the elementary school, the district was in the midst of piloting new math and reading curriculum, and will soon be making decisions about whether to implement those programs permanently.
“I think when you have committed parents and teachers, and a strong curriculum, things work,” he said.
Wilton-Lyndeborough Superintendent Bryan Lane said LaRoche has been a good fit for the district as interim principal.
“He’s done a good job building relationships with students, parents and faculty. I think he’ll continue those things, as well as working toward identifying the parts of the school that are solid and areas that can improve, and work with the staff and community to make those improvements,” Lane said of LaRoche.
LaRoche said under his leadership next year, he hopes to expand upon a program he’s begun to implement this year, to give students with individual education plans services within their classrooms, instead of pulling them out of class to receive those services. It’s a co-teaching model LaRoche said has worked well in his previous schools that he’d like to see at Florence Rideout Elementary.
Wilton-Lyndeborough Middle/High School Principal Brian Bagley announced his intent to retire at the end of the school year this November, after nearly 10 years with the district. The School Board has selected Peter Weaver to fill his shoes.
Most of Weaver’s administrative experience is as an assistant principal which he did for 15 years, but his most recent position was as a building principal for three years at Spaulding High School in Rochester. Prior to being an administrator, he taught middle school special education and high school social studies.
He received two Bachelor’s degrees from Rhode Island College and a second Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania at Shippensburg, in addition to a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study from the University of New Hampshire.
“He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, and we look forward to working with him,” Lane said.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertrascript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.