Meet the New Co-Principals at CCS

Audrey Boutaugh, 5th-8th grade, and Gregory Marino, PreK-4th grade, will be co-principals at CCS beginning July 1, 2010.
by Nancy Wood
March 25, 2010, page 7

Audrey Boutaugh

Audrey Boutaugh is excited by the idea of the co-principal-ship. “It will be a benefit to have someone to collaborate with.” Her most recent position was as principal at two associated schools, Stevens and Moser in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, with over 600 students and no other administrative support.

Boutagh is eager to find a place to live in the area so she can move here by June and begin to get to know the community. She wants to start interviewing staff as soon as possible and become familiar with the culture of the school. She was attracted by the “progressive” approach to education in Vermont and by Charlotte’s “professional, dedicated teachers, child-sensitive focus, parent involvement and good test scores.”

The Vermont lifestyle was also an attraction for Boutaugh. She enjoys sports, including kick-boxing and rugby. She runs 5K races and took up skiing three years ago. She has two beagles, and she added, “Everyone knows I love shoes!”

Brian O’Regan, School Leadership Coordinator at St. Michael’s College and former Deputy Commissioner of Education for the State of Vermont, served as a consultant for the search committee to help evaluate the candidates for the co-principal positions. He said that Boutaugh “rose to the top” for the 5th - 8th grade position because of her leadership skills. “She is a bright woman, well versed in curriculum. She matched well with the faculty, is strong on curriculum assessment.”

Boutaugh has a bachelors degree in finance (1987, University of Connecticut) and masters degrees in business (MBA 1991) and education (MS 1995) from the University of New Haven. She began her teaching career as a third-grade teacher in Meriden, Connecticut, and moved into administrative positions beginning in 2001. From 2004-2006 she was the principal of the Israel Putnam School, a PreK – 5th grade school with 625 students in Meriden, and then the principal of the Stevens and Moser Schools, also PreK-5th grade, from 2006-2009. Her professional development has included, among many others, courses in Positive Behaviors and Intervention Supports (PBIS) and Response to Invervention (RTI). Both approaches are being implemented in Charlotte.

Boutaugh says she left her last job on an amicable basis due to a change in leadership, and she has been working in financial planning for the last year while looking for a new position. She’s “really excited about the change and moving to a new state.” When asked about her experience with construction, she said she might have to “put on her hard hat and heavy boots” during next year’s rebuilding project. She is eager to begin the collaboration with her co-principal and says she and Marino are already conversing by e-mail.

Gregory Marino

Greg Marino knew when he was in the 11th grade that he wanted to be a band teacher. He developed a love for the trumpet in the 4th grade, and had great music teachers. His father was very passionate about his profession as a foreign language teacher. Marino earned a bachelors degree in music from Ithaca College in 1993 and taught music and served as a band director for 12 years at various elementary levels up through the 9th grade, all on Long Island near where he grew up.

He received his masters degree in music in 1997 from City University of New York-Queens College and in 2004 a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies with a major in school district administration from State University of New York at Stony Brook. He was the assistant principal at the Setauket Elementary School from 2005 until 2007 when he moved to Vermont to become principal of the Essex Town Elementary School, which serves students in grades PreK-2.

Marino and his wife, Lori, had often come to Vermont to see her family, the Magnans, in Shelburne where she grew up. Marino said, “The area blew me away. I was struck by the natural beauty; appreciated the friendliness, small town feel.” They knew they wanted to move here some day and were looking for the right opportunity.

The position in Essex provided that opportunity. Marino is proud of his work there and the team that he is part of, and he wasn’t looking for a change when he spotted the Charlotte opening. But he was attracted by the opportunity for professional growth and learning in a larger supervisory district, and to being exposed to the older grade levels. He said he has no direct experience with the co-principal model, but he finds it appealing to have two professionals with the same job description responsible for instructional leadership across different grade levels.

His priority will be to develop a relationship with the community and his new colleagues and to understand the culture of the school. The Marinos will continue to live in Williston, where Lori Marino has recently started a bakery business called Sweet Harmony in their home.

Marino understands the challenges he and Boutaugh face with the construction project. He expects it to be messy and cramped with all the classes squeezed into the unaffected parts of the building. Hopefully, he said, it will be only one year. When asked if he was familiar with the issues that have been raised about the math program at CCS, he said he was getting up to speed with it. “Controversy is healthy; and hopefully leads to better instruction. A program is a program – a resource, a skeleton. Most important – what’s at the heart of it – is the instruction that happens in the classroom.”