Newtown superintendent to step down
NEWTOWN — The town’s top educator, who marshaled social and emotional learning resources to help smooth the aftershocks of the Sandy Hook shooting, will resign from the school district this summer to tend to her frail parents.
“With aging parents, and one who has been battling illness … on December 15, I made it official and notified the Board of my intention to retire as of June 30, 2022,” Rodrigue said in a letter to Newtown just before Christmas. “The timing of my announcement will allow the Board time to plan for and conduct a search following the holidays.”
Rodrigue’s retirement will close the book on a four-year term as superintendent that required a communicator as well as an administrator as the town transitioned from federally funded trauma support to its own in-house services, and as Newtown navigated the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic.
“During the height of the pandemic she led with poise and intent, working long and hard to ensure our students were able to continue to learn even when the schools had to be closed,” said school board President Deborra Zukowski said at a recent meeting . “Most importantly she communicated with all members of the educational community so that they understood the ‘whys’ as well as the ‘whats’ the ‘whens’ and the ‘hows.’ ”
Rodrigue’s retirement caps a career that began in the early 1990s as an English teacher in Newtown and reached a milestone in 2017 when she was named Connecticut’s Principal of the Year while at Newtown High School. In presenting her the award that year, the Connecticut Association of Schools called her “a reform-minded leader,” who “embraces the challenges of 21st century learning with a fierce personal commitment and unerring focus on what is best for children.”
Joseph Erardi, Newtown’s then-superintendent, agreed, calling her “incredibly smart” with “a gift for galvanizing resources” and a knack for providing students with “growth opportunities that have a common denominator of relevance and meaning.”
Rodrigue would go on to be named interim superintendent and then superintendent of Newtown schools when Erardi retired in 2017, after he oversaw the $50 million rebuilding of the Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2016.
In taking over for Erardi, who himself had been named Connecticut’s Superintendent of the Year in 2017, Rodrigue said she would continue Erardi’s open-office policy, giving out her cellphone number and encouraging parents to call her on weekends because, “I would much rather deal with something they feel is important in the moment because it takes time to listen, and on the weekends, I have more time.”
She said outreach and availability was especially important for those affected most by the Sandy Hook shooting.
“Having worked in the district and knowing all of the families of loss as well as students and staff who were touched by Sandy Hook, a big part of my role is ensuring we are continually supporting their healing and recovery,” Rodrigue told Hearst Connecticut Media shortly after becoming Newtown’s top educator.
Rodrigue’s retirement at the end of the school year will come six months before the 10th anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting, when 20 first-graders and six educators were killed.
“As superintendent, I am deeply proud of what we have accomplished, despite a host of challenges we navigated together,” Rodrigue wrote in her letter to Newtown last week. “I have no doubt that with an exceptional team of teachers, staff, and leaders, Newtown Public Schools is poised to remain on a positive path.”