Currents in Education
Beloved local principal to retire
July 1
By Jennifer L. Saunders
Coastal Ridge Elementary School Principal Jane Stephenson is seen here as she visits with students during lunch at the school on Friday. Stephenson has announced she will be retiring this summer after 20 years with the York School Department.
Photo by Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK - For 20 years, Jane Stephenson's name has been synonymous with the best that the York School Department has to offer.
At least, that is how her staff, students, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Henry Scipione and the School Committee have described her. After all, for 16 of those years, she has been the principal of Coastal Ridge Elementary School - the only principal in the school's history - seeing the staff and students through every year and every change that has occurred since the school opened in 1991.
The year ahead, however, will bring a change for Stephenson and for Coastal Ridge. As she announced last week in a letter submitted to Scipione, with two grandchildren due to be born this June and her husband already enjoying retirement, Stephenson will be retiring from her post on July 1.
In sharing Stephenson's letter with the School Committee on Wednesday evening, Feb. 7, Scipione described his "very mixed emotions."
He told the committee members this new chapter will be wonderful for Stephenson and her family, but a great loss for York.
Stephenson came to York back in August of 1987 as an assistant principal at what was then called York Elementary School and is now known as Village Elementary School since the building of Coastal Ridge back in 1991.
With a career in education spanning 33 years as a teacher and administrator, Stephenson said last week that it is time to begin a new phase with her husband and family - but that this decision does not come easily.
In the midst of Friday's schedule of observing classroom instruction with York Curriculum Coordinator Dr. Maryann Minard, Stephenson paused while the third- and fourth-grade students at Coastal Ridge had their lunch to discuss her love for York and for teaching, and her hopes for her future and that of the school.
"It is with very mixed emotions that I come to his point," Stephenson said Friday, describing the staff of the York School Department as an extended family.
Her husband retired a couple of years ago from his post as a high school principal in another community, Stephenson explained, and with both of their sons and their wives now expecting their first children, the timing was right for her family.
"Our number one priority is that we're expecting two grandchildren in June. We've already been scheduled for babysitting," Stephenson said with a smile, adding, "Now we'll be able to check off all those things we've put on hold for a number of years."
With careers in education administration, time for travel, working on their Kennebunk home and such favorite pastimes as golf had long been put on the back burner while she and her husband worked.
Stephenson said she believes she will be leaving Coastal Ridge in a very strong place, with a staff that is committed to providing "a very warm and welcoming and open environment where children feel safe and their needs are met."
As Stephenson put it, "My goals have always been to hire the best staff and to make sure the lines of communication were always open. … Expectations are high for our students and we want them to be happy in school. … I think I will be leaving the school on a high note. There are so many teacher-leaders in the building, and with the expertise of the office staff, they're in a really good place."
In moving on after so many years as a part of the York Schools, Stephenson said, she can't help but feel she will be leaving a part of herself behind.
"It is hard to leave a family you have taken a lot of time and care and love to create," Stephenson said of the Coastal Ridge staff and the York School Department, adding, "I just have so much respect for the central office administration and the staff there under Henry's guidance. We have a wonderfully close-knit administrative team. … We've got wonderfully supportive and involved parents."
One of those parents, School Committee Vice Chairman Marilyn Zotos, spoke of Stephenson's commitment to as she described the emotions of "walking your child into a school building and handing them over" when her children attended Coastal Ridge.
That experience was made easier by Stephenson's presence, she said.
"Jane's professionalism was always so well balanced with her love for the kids," she said, adding, "I just couldn't imagine having a better experience for my children than they had at Coastal Ridge. … Selfishly, we're going to really miss her"
Zotos was echoed by her fellow School Committee members when she said York's schools are a better place because of Stephenson's years of service.
Scipione agreed.
"She's been here for 20 years," he told the School Committee. "She's an incredible educator and a true model to all of us. It's just going to be a tremendous loss. But also realize that she will leave Coastal Ridge at the top of its game."
Scipione read Stephenson's letter, which focused not at all on her own accomplishments, but instead on her colleagues as "outstanding educators that put the needs of the students above all else. … I will sincerely miss the best staff any principal could ever work with at Coastal Ridge Elementary School (and) the extraordinary students who have kept me grounded every day."
There was an audible sigh from the School Committee members upon hearing that this year would be Stephenson's last at Coastal Ridge.
"In the true spirit of Jane Stephenson, the humble person she is, she submits this letter," Scipione said, adding, "I respect her so much for being able to make this decision at this time in her life."
The committee members joined Scipione in wishing Stephenson the best in this new chapter of her life with her family.
School Committee Chairwoman Patty Hymanson said a proper farewell will be planned for Stephenson in the months ahead.
At that point, Scipione presented the board with a timeline for searching for a new principal for Coastal Ridge, but the members agreed that, given the state's push for school consolidation, they should look at whether two principals are needed for Coastal Ridge and Village or if a combined position might be possible.
Scipione said the administration will take its direction from the board, though the current search process does focus on a principal at each school to serve the approximately 700 students in grades K through 4.
The School Committee will examine the issue in more detail at a future meeting.
Whichever direction the board takes, Scipione said, the person selected to fill the post "will have his or her work cut out for her" in terms of replacing Jane Stephenson.
In her letter of retirement, and again on Friday at her school, Stephenson described her years in York as the most memorable and rewarding of her career in education.
"I'm going to miss everything that is York," she said. "It's a very special, unique community."
