GRANBY — With a big transition for the town’s youngest students on the horizon, leaders of the Granby public schools hope to provide stability and foster a welcoming environment with a trio of new administrators this year.
The school district hired new Superintendent Sheryl Stanton, Director of Pupil Services Carol Hepworth and elementary school Principal William Lataille over the past few months.
Lataille will do double-duty for his first two years as principal, leading the East Meadow School and the West Street School as they transition to one campus.
“We’ve got a big project coming up. The schools are combining in two years, so we’re preparing for that.”
The West Street School teaches students from pre-k to third grade. The East Meadow School hosts fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students. According to Lataille, the elementary-age schools will be combined into one campus at the East Meadow School, located at 393 East State St., once an addition is built.
Each school has about 200 students, Lataille said, so he will lead 400 students from pre-k to sixth grade during the transition.
“It’s a really good thing. The final product is going to be great. I’m sure there are going to be some bumps in the road along the way, but the whole environment of the new school is going to be focused on a 21st century learning environment. It’s going to be more suitable for learning,” Lataille said.
Lataille said he hopes to ease the transition through team building, listening and providing opportunities for people to get together and make their voices heard.
“It’ll be the best of both worlds. We’ve got a great group of teachers,” Lataille said. “And with the new resources, it will make for a top-notch education system.”
Talk of combining the schools came about in 2013 when a special Town Meeting approved a study of the West Street School to determine options for future use of the building.
The building’s problems include a failing septic system and windows and heating and ventilation systems that need replacement, Select Board Chairman Mark Bail told the Gazette in 2014. Facing a tight budget, the town decided it would be cost-effective to combine the schools.
Lataille, 49, lives in Sturbridge. He graduated from Worcester State University in 1989 and earned a master’s degree at Endicott College in 2008. He served as assistant principal and interim principal for Granite Valley Middle School in Monson for six years and was principal of Southbridge Elementary School for one year.
“I like this age group, this is where I want to be,” LatailleLataille said.
He will take over for former East Meadow School Principal Jennifer Champagne, who resigned in July to take a position at Chestnut Hill Community School in Belchertown.
Granby Junior/ Senior High School Principal Jonathan Cavallo, who has been with the district for 13 years, said the school is looking forward to starting the year with a restructured schedule model and a new advanced placement class.
Starting this year, Granby will offer a computer science Advanced Placement class. Advanced Placement classes are a branch of the College Board, the organization that puts on the SAT tests. The courses are more rigorous than traditional high school classes, and students who earn a qualifying score on standardized Advanced Placement exams can earn college credits.
Teacher Clay Hennessy underwent a four-week training this summer to prepare for the course, Cavallo said.
According to Cavallo, it will be the seventh Advanced Placement class offered at the high school. The school also offers AP courses in government, English, biology and calculus.
The school will abandon its rotating drop schedule this year for an eight-period model. Each class will meet daily and last 44 minutes. Previously, classes lasted 57 minutes and did not meet daily, Cavallo said. The schedule change will allow students to take advantage of elective courses offered at the school.
New electives this year include forensics, mythology, introduction to debate, and STEM- and humanities-focused workshops, Cavallo said. Classes run for half the year.
As the town population declines, Granby High School has seen its student population fall in recent years, Cavallo said. The school, which has a total enrollment of 385, will welcome 74 seventh-graders this year.
In the wake of a student-led walkout in June to protest budget cuts that put beloved teachers on the chopping block, Cavallo said the school will “be okay” because of a special Town Meting vote.
“The town came through at the June Town Meeting and we are thankful for that,” Cavallo said.
Town Meeting voters restored $345,938 to the school budget to reinstate some middle school math and high school English classes, as well as elementary school music and physical education instruction, that otherwise would have been eliminated.
The move averted almost half of what would have been an $800,000 shortfall in school spending for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The added money will come from the general stabilization funds and brought the town’s school spending to $7,940,600.