NORTHFIELD — Two area women vying for the Northfield Elementary School principal job will get to appeal to residents during community forums slated for next week.
Megan Desmarais and Dianne Ellis are the finalists being considered to replace the retiring Tom King and the public will have an opportunity to get to know them in the school cafeteria on Wednesday. Ellis’ forum is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., with Desmarais set for 7:15 p.m.
The principal search committee — composed of teachers, parents, students, administrators and school committee and community members — reviewed 23 applications and produced four semi-finalists before Ellis and Desmarais, both seasoned in academia, floated to the top of the list.
According to information from the Pioneer Valley Regional School District, Desmarais started her career in public education in 1992 as an instructional asssistant at Smith College Campus School in Northampton before teaching fourth grade at West Elementary School in Plymouth. The South Deerfield resident has been a fourth-grade teacher at Deerfield Elementary School for the past 18 years.
Desmarais graduated from Bridgewater State University with a bachelor’s degree in education. She also has a master’s degree in education from Curry College and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies from American International College, with a major in school leadership.
Ellis worked as a home/school liaison at Ralph C. Mahar Regional High School in Orange in 1997, after serving in a human services position. She has also been a special education administrator at Mahar and worked at Educational Coordinator School Based Services, Inc. for four years, according to the Pioneer Valley Regional School District. She was assistant principal at Bellows Falls Middle School in Vermont and for the past five years has been an elementary principal in the Athol Royalston Regional School District.
The Turners Falls resident graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She also has a master’s degree in applied psychology from Antioch University New England and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in education administration from UMass Amherst.
Retiring Principal King has worked in education for about 40 years, spending more than half of his career teaching in various elementary schools, including a seven-year stint as a sixth-grade teacher at Northfield Elementary. His final day will be June 30. In February, he told The Recorder he will most miss working with the young students.
You can reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 257. On Twitter, follow @DomenicPoli