My Goal in Blogging

I started this blog in May of 2008, shortly after my election to the School Committee, because I believed it was very important to both provide the community with an opportunity to share their thoughts with me about our schools and to provide me with an opportunity for me to ask questions and share my thoughts and reasoning. I have found the conversation generated on my blog to be extremely helpful to me in learning community views on many issues. I appreciate the many people who have taken the time to share their views. I believe it is critical to the quality of our public schools to have a public discussion of our community priorities, concerns and aspirations.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Wildwood principal to move on

Hampshire Gazette
By BEN STORROW
Wednesday, April 28, 2010

AMHERST - Matthew Behnke, the principal at Wildwood Elementary School for the past two years, announced Tuesday that he will resign from his position when the school year ends.

In an April 27 letter to Wildwood parents and staff, Behnke cited two factors - a desire to spend more time with his family and a wish to be a teacher again - as the primary reasons for his resignation.

"First it is my preference to return to the classroom in order to effect positive, instructional change to children each day and to pursue personal areas of educational interest within a school community," Behnke wrote. "The second and third reasons are interconnected; that is, the proximity my family lives from this district and my desire to be able to spend more quality time with my young family."

Behnke and his family live in Westfield.

Behnke's announcement makes him the third prominent Amherst school official to resign this school year. Glenda Cresto, the former principal at Amherst Regional Middle School, resigned just four days into the school year in September, saying she was not a "good fit" for the position. Her resignation was followed in March by that of Alberto Rodriguez, superintendent of Amherst schools, after receiving low marks in an assessment of his performance by Amherst teachers and staff. He later negotiated his exit with the School Committee.

The rash of resignations also comes at a time when the constitution of the Amherst school district is in a state of flux. Mark's Meadow Elementary School will close permanently following the end of school in June. Its students will be sent in the fall to other Amherst elementary schools, including Wildwood.

Catherine Sanderson, a School Committee member, acknowledged that Behnke's announcement comes at a time when the district is changing, but expressed optimism that the position could be filled by the summer.

"It is always hard when a principal moves on because it means transitions for family and staff. This is a particularly crucial time, as we will be moving from four elementary schools to three," Sanderson said. "That being said, I have every confidence our interim superintendent will be able to conduct a search for a new principal and, due to the timing of the resignation, I would imagine will have the opportunity to have a new principal in place by the summer."

Past principal searches have usually included the formation of a hiring committee, which recommends finalists to the superintendent, Sanderson said. Principal candidates are often interviewed in a public forum, Sanderson said, before the superintendent makes a final decision.

Behnke came to Amherst in May 2008 from Granville, Conn., where he served as principal of the Granville Village School. Prior to that, he had worked as a special education teacher in Chicopee and as a classroom teacher in Oakland, Calif. His time as Wildwood principal is actually Behnke's second stint in Amherst - he is a graduate of Amherst College.

Maria Geryk, interim superintendent, said she hoped to outline a process for hiring a new principal next week.

"I would like to thank Matt for his service and commitment to our students and our community," she wrote in an email to the Gazette. "I look forward to our continued work over the next two months. We wish him well."

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

My family and I wish Mr. Behnke well and thank him for his service to our community. It is hard to have a long commute and hopefully something will work out for him a little closer to home.

Perhaps the Marks Meadow principal would be interested in the position? Does anybody know what his plans are? Was he planning to return to the classroom somewhere within the district?

MM Fan said...

He will be teaching at Wildwood! Nick Yaffe is a great principal but he is also a wonderful teacher and may prefer teaching!

Prentiss said...

We want Nick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

I say forgo the search and hire Mr. Yaffe. He's a current, well respected principal who has both taught at and overseen a school with remarkable community cohesion and a track record of excellence across many dimensions. Sounds like a win/win to me. I sure hope he would consider taking the position.

Ed said...

Seriously -- if you have four principals and only need three next year, exactly why are you hiring to fill this slot?

Anonymous said...

I wonder if they have to do a formal search if Nick Yaffe agrees to become the WW principal? (Just like you did not have to do a search when teachers are moving from one building to another, and as he is currently a principal in the system.

I really really hope that he becomes the principal of WW, we haven't had one that lasted more than 2 years since at least 1991, maybe even before that.

And in the future, I think this demonstrates that we need to hire people with experience in the job in question - or else there is a high chance of it not working out.

Anonymous said...

And with Rena Moore's retirement, you have another vacancy to fill?

Anonymous said...

Anon 8:10 AM

Ken Chapman and Roberto Perez both "lasted" more than two years,
Terez Waldoch would have "lasted" more than two years had she not retired, and Karen Lowe would have "lasted" more than two years
had she not fallen victim to ...

Anonymous said...

Do svedenya Behnke.

Seemed like a nice guy but hadn't really got the stomach to iron out the problems at WW and didn't seem to have an overall vision of where the school was going.

I'm glad that he's stepping down. This is a smart decision that benefits both him and hopefully WW. Good luck with your next teaching job.

GH said...

Good decision by Behnke - he seemed like a rabbit caught in the headlights and clearly did not have the stomach to sort out WW's problems, nor did he have a vision for where the school was going.

Hopefully he'll find a position that he's more comfortable with and good luck to him. A good outcome for both him and for WW

Anonymous said...

I found Behnke to be a highly competent and caring principal. As far as not "having the stomach to iron out the problems at WW"... is this really a scene from "Stand and Deliver?" Do people really think that the principal at WW must stare down the forces of ignorance and gang warfare? No. Wildwood is a great school in a great community. What the school needs to do is hire a competent administrator and not parent-badger the person for a few years and see what happens. I, for one do not think the outstanding teaching at WW would change a bit no matter who leads. Benke did alright in my book.

Anonymous said...

"And another one bites the dust"...

Anonymous said...

I don't understand why there is such a high rate of turnover in Administrators in Amherst. What is going on in Amherst that is causing such turmoil in the school system. It is very disconcerting.

Anonymous said...

Would you want to work in the schools or the administration, or volunteer on the school committee? It's a thankless job in this town.

Anonymous said...

It's Yaffe, principal of Wildwood now.

Anonymous said...

Finally a good decision. Now just appoint her as full time Super and everyone can get back to TEACHING.

Anonymous said...

I was thought the teachers were teaching all along. Am I wrong?

MM Fan said...

I'm surprised that Catherine did not announce the appontment of Nick as principal of Wildwood! I wish that the School Committee had kept its word that all of the MM kids would be going to Wildwood together (and the SC did sate this early in the process), because there are about 4 kids who will have to go to other schools because they do not live in that district and were open enrolled at MM. It is hard enough that MM is closing, and it would have been nice to make an exception for these four children, especially now that Nick will be the principal at WW!

Anonymous said...

Is Nick Yaffee the new Wildwood principal?

Anonymous said...

I just saw a note that was posted on May 4, 2010 on the Wildwood PTO blog that the new principal is Nick Yaffe and that he would be conducting a public forum on May 5 to discuss the future of the school.

I did not see any announcement of this news anywhere else. I hope the communications task force with Rick Hood will use this as an example of poor communication. I don't see any news item on the ARPS website. According to the PTO blog, a letter was sent out to Wildwood families.

I am delighted by the news, however, and thankful that the parents and students at Wildwood will have someone in place with a good track record in Amherst.