Subject: PARTING WORDS FROM PRINCIPAL PATI BEAUMONT
From: <Saved by Windows Internet Explorer 8>
Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2012 15:18:20 -0400

Parting Words from
Principal
Pati Beaumont

What a pleasure it has been working for you for the last 11 years.  It’s been an incredible journey!  As I reflect on those first months, one
of my finest recollections was my involvement in building the “Big Toy” during
the summer of 2001.  I fondly
remember the mounds of coffee and doughnuts, and sandwiches and drinks the PTO
supplied to the many volunteers who worked as a team to construct the site,
volunteers from CVPS, VELCO, and GE, Select Board and School Board members,
parents and guardians, teachers, and students, all working together. The food
and drinks were donated by local businesses and individuals. The project was
financed through the efforts of volunteer fundraisers, whose names are on a
plaque that is displayed in our main lobby.  Some of my first conversations with
School Board members were about the best material for the “wood chips” that line
the ground.  This is what attracted
me to this community!

With the many responsibilities that come with being a principal, which
include (but are not limited to) following school board directives, creating and
living within budgets, staff and faculty supervision, building and grounds
needs, community and parents concerns, my focus has remained clear—a focus on
our students.  While matters that
concern adults in the community are pieces of the puzzle, it is my belief that
our focus must be on student learning. Alas, adult matters, in recent years,
seem to have eroded the community’s cohesive support that I witnessed in 2001.

Public education mimics a democracy. Dissention and verbal discourse is
the natural progression toward effecting

change and improvements. There has been much discourse, and there
have been many improvements (i.e. communication modes, technology, curriculum,
and building) over the last
decade.  However, it is
ALWAYS to be remembered that our ultimate goal is to provide the best education
for all the students in our community.
Education should be about children, not adults.

The
strength of that support for children has to come from the whole community. The
responsibility  of the residents of
Rutland Town is to fund, govern, and support their school. When concerns arise,
the most valuable contribution one can provide is problem solving.

While there will always be issues in schools that create an ebb and flow
amongst the stakeholders in the community, this is what occurs in every school
in the United States.  It is what
maintains the democracy.  There were
complicated and difficult issues in 2001, just like there are today, and it is
only through the support of our community that those issues can be resolved
toward a positive outcome.

If
there is anything I can leave as a legacy to RTS after my 11 years of service,
it is to instill in the greater population that kid needs always come before
adult needs, and that the community must remain intimately involved in the
process of educating our youth.

I
humbly thank the Rutland Town community for allowing me to mature in my
profession.  I am eternally grateful
for the wonderful relationships I have formed during my tenure.  I am excited to begin my new journey as
the Pre-K to Grade 5 Co-Principal of Shelburne Community School; however, I will
miss RTS.  Good luck to you
all!  And remember, “Together We’re
Better!”