EASTHAMPTON —Ninety years of collective leadership are walking out the door of Mountain View School this June. When the Easthampton Public School District merged its three elementary programs into one central building in 2022, it also brought together three longtime principals: Judy Averill, Andrea McCallum and Meredith Balise. Now, as the school year draws to a close, all three are retiring simultaneously, marking a historic transition for the district.
Currently, the three principals oversee different groups of grades at Mountain View: Averill, pre-K-2; McCallum, 3-5; and Balise, 6-8.
Easthampton schools hold a special place in the hearts of the principals, each of whom has spent at least a decade or two in the district. However, they all feel that now is the right time to move on.
“It feels right,” McCallum said, who lives in Easthampton. “We’re all at retirement age, we are ready. Ninety years of leadership sitting here is a lot.”
The trio recently sat down with the Gazette, cracking jokes and reminiscing back to their starts in the district while reflecting on the massive change that came when Mountain View was built at 200 Park St., replacing White Brook Middle School.
“Work is all consuming. We’ve been doing this for a lot of years, where you don’t want to say work comes first, but the reality is, it does.”
Judy Averill, mOUNTAIN vIEW pRINCIPAL, GRADES PRE-K-2
Once they leave, the principals acknowledged there may be an adjustment period, but feel the ship is in safe hands with Superintendent Michelle Balch now leading the district, and current Head of School Jill Pasquini-Torchia on deck to take over as the new solo principal.
“We’ve done a successful job of bringing them together and opening a new building under the leadership of Jill [Pasquini-Torchia],” McCallum said. “She’s a great leader and so it felt for the three of us like it’s a good time.”
In an email to the Gazette, Balch explained that Mountain View is going to transition into a “more streamlined,” principal and assistant principal model. Rather than having a principal and a head of school, there will be one principal and three assistant principals.
Balch said this system will create clearer expectations between Pasquini-Torchia and teachers. Previously she said it was not fully clear in what situations a teacher would report to their principal or the head of school and hopes Pasquini-Torchia will be more accessible in the new system.
While Pasquini-Torchia is set to be the lone principal, Balch said it may take time to find the right assistants, hoping to secure the new deputies in March. The district formed a screening committee — comprising parents, teachers, administrators and a student — to assist with the interview process.
“Ensuring a strong, collaborative school leadership team is a critical priority for the district,” Balch said. “Our focus is on finding the best possible fit for Mountain View Elementary, and we want to be thoughtful and strategic as we move forward.”
When the long anticipated Mountain View School finished construction, McCallum, Averill and Balise all decided that Pasquini-Torchia was the only candidate to take them helm as the head of school, citing her leadership skills and knowledge.
Once they moved into Mountain View, the principals said they along with Pasquini-Torchia were given authority to decide who would be put into the four administrative roles — head of school and the three principal roles.
“It was the most easy thing in the world. We all wanted Jill to be the head of school,” Averill said.
Before Mountain View School completed construction — officially welcoming middle schoolers in January 2022, followed by elementary students that fall — Averill served as principal at Maple Elementary School. McCallum was the vice principal at Center-Pepin Elementary, while Balise led White Brook Middle School.
“It was really difficult in the beginning and I think that first year it was really hard,” McCallum said. “Coming back the second year, it felt different and then we did a lot of work on trying to build community.”
Averill explained that in Mountain View, each entire grade is designated to one hallway which was a big step for many classrooms. For example, she said there were two classrooms per grade in each of the three elementary school buildings. Coming all together at Mountain View, those six classrooms are now all in one hallway.
Rather than teachers from the separate schools only collaborating once a month at meetings, Averill said it became every day.
“I knew teachers that worked at Maple, Center, Pepin, and really that’s all gone. Now, it’s just Mountain View teachers and it feels really good,” Averill said.
Balise said she feels the transition was harder for the elementary schools than for White Brook since the middle-schoolers moved in half a year earlier, to allow for White Brook to be demolished.
“I had to watch it (White Brook) out the window be torn down. That was very emotional,” Balise said.
As principals, Balise said a day in the life is never the same. Though when it comes to priorities, the needs of the students come first, she said.
Balise said while she was very fond of the previous middle school building, the upgrade was necessary. Before the Wilbraham resident began at White Brook in 2002, she said she didn’t even know where Easthampton was.
The three also discussed the progress made since they began in the district — Averill in 2004 and McCallum in 2012. McCallum said when she started at White Brook serving as a vice principal, her daughter was in eighth grade and it was difficult to adapt too, but it felt at home since they were living in Easthampton.
Averill, who lives in Northampton, said people were not moving to Easthampton for the schools more than two decades ago, but they are now.
“The expectation on teachers of curriculum, really the bar just keeps getting higher and higher, and we see these teachers rising to that occasion,” Averill said.
Besides the transition into Mountain View, the biggest challenge they said they have faced was navigating the schools through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Though, through the transitions and challenges, all three said they look forward to retirement, spending time with family and traveling. However, it might not be a complete retirement for Averill and Balise, who both plan to seek out part-time work.
“I will probably work at some point, but next year — I have four children that live all over the country and grandchildren, so just travel, spend time with them,” Balise said.
“Travel is definitely high on the list and family,” Averill said. “You know, my mother. To be able to spend more time helping and just being present. I mean that, to me, is huge.”
McCallum said for her, any ocean destination will do for travel. “Family time, traveling, anytime I’m near the ocean … I will travel to any new spots I haven’t been,” she said.
The three said that they have grown to care deeply about the community and are going to miss the kids. As principals, they each explained what a great responsibility it has been being in charge of hundreds of children.
“Work is all consuming,” Averill said. “We’ve been doing this for a lot of years, where you don’t want to say work comes first, but the reality is, it does.”
“We have such a special community here, in and out,” McCallum said. “The kids are awesome. We have the best educators definitely in western Mass., if not the state. You won’t find a more dedicated staff in the area.”