WARWICK — In addition to teaching the combined third and fourth grade classroom at Warwick Community School, Christine Mullen will also be principal this year.
Mullen has taught the combined third and fourth grade class for eight years, and taught first, fifth and sixth grades in Orange for 10 years before that. She also gained experience teaching special education in Orange, but this will be her first experience in an administrative role.
Mullen received her administrative certification in 2007, and is looking forward to using those skills for a community she is so familiar with.
“It’s a nice place to start an administrative position,” she said. “It’s a tight-knit community.”
After accepting the position earlier this month, Mullen dove into preparing for the fast-approaching school year. After a first and second grade teacher who was slated to return accepted a job teaching with the Department of Defense in Germany, she had to hire someone to fill the position quickly.
Additionally, Mullen has been scheduling staff meetings, revising the school website and sending school information packets to families. She hopes to maintain “principal hours” to allot appropriate time for all students.
“Both the administrative team and community have been very receptive to that idea,” she said.
During the Pioneer Valley Regional School District School Committee meeting on Aug. 8, a memorandum of understanding was approved regarding a combined teacher and principal position at Warwick Community School for the 2019 to 2020 school year only.
Ariel LaReau, the district’s new curriculum coordinator, said the position will be compensated in accordance with the teacher’s salary scale, with an additional $10,000 stipend. If the combined position is no longer needed after the year, Mullen will return to being the third and fourth grade teacher only.
LaReau said this is “an unusual situation” because the future of Warwick Community School is uncertain while the town explores the possibility of becoming a Horace Mann II Conversion School. LaReau advised against hiring a new employee solely for the principal position given the school’s unknown future, and said she believes this will be the least disruptive model for families and faculty.
Just this spring, it was unclear whether Warwick Community School would remain open. The School Committee voted during two separate meetings to not close Warwick’s school.
Since July, the Warwick Selectboard has been pursuing turning the school into a Horace Mann II Conversion School, a district-affiliated, independently governed chartered public school. Warwick needs to gain approval from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and file the appropriate paperwork by mid-September.