White River Valley principal announces plan to retire

Hartford High boys basketball coach Jeff Thomas talks with his team during a Dec. 3, 2019, workout at Hanley Gym in White River Junction, Vt. (Valley News — Greg Fennell) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Valley News file — Greg Fennell
Published: 12-17-2024 6:01 PM |
SOUTH ROYALTON — After more than three decades as an educator in the Upper Valley, the principal of White River Valley High School has announced plans to retire at the end of the current school year.
Jeff Thomas, 59, sent his letter of resignation to the School Board for the two-town district serving Royalton and Bethel on Dec. 5.
“It has been a positive three years at WRVHS, and I feel that we have made great gains in this time,” Thomas wrote, adding that he hoped to give the board sufficient time to find his replacement.
“Our school deserves the best and having time to find the perfect person is very important to our school community,” he wrote.
Thomas began his career as a physical education teacher at the then-South Roylaton High School 1990. He also worked as a health teacher, athletic director and coach at South Royalton and schools in Hartford, Woodstock and Tunbridge before becoming principal of WRVHS in South Royalton in 2022.
In 2017, the Bethel and Royalton school disctricts merged, creating WRVHS, which serves a total of 228 students from Royalton, Bethel, and nearby school choice towns.
“It’s so hard to leave because this school is like home to me,” Thomas said in a phone interview.
In his retirement, Thomas and his wife plan on traveling around in an RV, mountain biking and scuba diving.
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“I have a huge bucket list and I love the outdoors,” Thomas said.
Last Friday, after Thomas announced his retirement to the student body at an assembly, Superintendent Jamie Kinnarney outlined the timeline for hiring the next principal in a message to the community.
Annette Rhoades, director of special services for the White River Valley Supervisory Union, is facilitating the search process. The goal is to have the search committee, comprised of faculty, staff, students, families and school board and community members finalized during the week of Jan. 13, and to recommend a candidate for the School Board to interview during the week of Feb. 10.
Those interested in joining the search committee can email Rhoades at arhoades@wrvsu.org by Jan. 8 with reasons why they would be an asset to the committee and their contact information. If chosen, members can expect to spend about 10 to 12 hours of work on the search.
The job description and instructions for how to apply can be found online at: https://www.schoolspring.com/jobdetail?jobId=4904430.
Emma Roth-Wells can be reached at erothwells@vnews.com or 603-727-3242.