CONWAY — The superintendent of the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District has been tapped to replace retiring Judith Siciliano as Conway Grammar School principal.
Kristen Gordon will take the reins on July 1, the beginning of the fiscal year, according to Frontier Regional and Union 38 School Superintendent Martha Barrett. Siciliano will step down on June 30, after 17 years as principal.
According to a statement from the superintendent’s office, Gordon wrote to the Conway staff to express her excitement after learning of her selection.
“I have interviewed at several schools and have received invitations to become the principal at other schools, but I knew that this was a perfect match. I am so thrilled to begin this new chapter in my life with all of you,” Gordon wrote. “Amazing, just amazing.”
Barrett said it was wonderful to have as many applications as there were.
“We had 31 applications,” she told The Recorder. “We were very pleased with that number to select from and the search committee narrowed it down to two great finalists who each had their own strengths.”
Gordon visited Conway Grammar for a community meet-and-greet on March 17. Her competition, Anne Axton-Jones, the principal of Mayberry Elementary School in East Hartford, Conn., met with Conway community members in the same fashion the day before.
Gordon has previously worked as an elementary school principal, special education teacher and inclusion specialist. She said being an elementary school principal is the happiest she has ever been in her career.
“I love what I’m doing. I’ll always give 200 percent, but I miss the kids,” she said at the meet-and-greet. “I really miss the kids and I really miss being an elementary school principal.”
The search for a new principal began in November and Barrett appointed Louise Law, the district director of elementary education, to facilitate the process. A committee — made up of staff members, a district elementary principal, the Conway School Committee chairwoman, and two Grammar School parents — was formed in early December. Thirty-one applications were reviewed by the committee and six applicants were invited for interviews. Gordon and Axton-Jones were finalists.
Each finalist spent a day at CGS, visiting each classroom, and four search committee members conducted site visits and interviews with the finalists’ colleagues and employees from their current school districts. Barrett said she carried out final interviews and reference checks and offered the position to Gordon after speaking with search committee members, administrators, teachers, parents and community members about the two choices.
“While both were very capable, I thought Kristen was a better fit for the Conway School community,” Barrett said. “My only regret is that I won’t get a chance to work with her.”
Barrett plans to step down as superintendent on June 30. Lynn M. Carey was chosen as her replacement.
You can reach Domenic Poli at:
dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 257. On Twitter, follow @DomenicPoli