Francestown Elementary School principal Katherine Foecking has been accepted as the next principal of Great Brook School, following Jim Elder’s upcoming retirement in July.
“While I am excited to have the opportunity to continue my work as an instructional leader at Great Brook School, it is bittersweet as I will be moving on from this wonderful community,” Foecking wrote in a statement to the Francestown Elementary School community.
Elder told the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript his retirement is also bittersweet.
“You always look forward to retirement,” Elder said, but added that his last year at the school has been semi-sweet, “more than I expected it to be,” as he, for instance, realized that he won’t see a fifth grader all the way through to high school. “Seeing all the growth, that’s a great part of the job.”
The ConVal School Board accepted Foecking’s nomination on Feb. 18. Foecking had been considering the move since the fall, when Elder announced his intent to retire. She is currently preparing her transition plan for a July 1 start at the middle school.
“I am proud of the work that we have done here at FES and I am confident that the staff and community will continue to work together to educate the children of Francestown. Although I will not be working directly with the students, staff, and families at FES, I look forward to our continued work together as the students move from FES to Great Brook School in the future,” she wrote.
Foecking has been principal at FES for three years.
Elder is retiring after 13 years with the ConVal school system, and a 30-year career in education.
“He changed the tone of GBS,” Great Brook School paraeducator Theresa Kirouac-Little said of Elder.
She said she especially admires Elder’s sense of humor saying he would do special handshakes with students, wear costumes and let staff and students play at assemblies.
“He is out there in the halls, outside when kids get off the bus. … He does not hide in his office,” she said, adding his was always there for students and staff alike. “He just cares from his heart.”
“It’s been a real honor for me to have been trusted with the kids in the ConVal school system,” Elder said.
He said he appreciates the support he has received from the greater community in addition to the trust he’s felt from the school community.
Elder grew up in Dublin, served in the Marine Corps, and currently lives in Newfields. He was an art teacher for twelve years, and served ten years as an assistant principal at Antrim Elementary and at Great Brook School.
“Great Brook School has become a really outstanding middle school,” he said. “The staff cares and looks after each other.”
Elder works through June, when Foecking is scheduled to take the reins. He said he thinks very highly of his successor and described her as smart, and driven.
“She’s going to be excellent,” he said.In his retirement, Elder’s plan is to “reinvent myself and fix peoples’ houses,” a longtime hobby of his, he said.