
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Pittsfield High College Principal Henry Duval will be retiring in the fall following just about 30 several years in general public education and learning.
Duval’s tenure at PHS will close on July 31 but he will remain into September to aid the changeover of a new principal.
His vocation as an administrator in Berkshire County educational facilities began in 2001 — he had been instructing for seven several years prior— and he feels that it is time to shift on.
“This is my 21st yr as a significant university administrator (12 years as a principal and 9 years as a vice principal), and my 28th 12 months general in community instruction. The job of a superior faculty principal tends to be all-consuming. There is by no means a time that I am not the principal — evenings, weekends, faculty breaks, summer vacation. Also, it just feels like it is time to transfer on,” he wrote to iBerkshires in an electronic mail.
“I have been executing this for a extended time and a large amount has adjusted considering that my initially placement as an assistant principal at Hoosac Valley again in the fall of 2001. With any luck ,, educational institutions can return to a semblance of normalcy upcoming tumble, and it looks like a excellent time to phase aside and permit an individual else consider the reins.”
Duval was in administration at Hoosac Valley Center and Higher School in Cheshire for 12 many years and Pittsfield High Faculty for nine a long time.
He begun in 1994 at Hoosac Valley as a permanent substitute teacher and was hired in 1995 as a social scientific studies trainer at Taconic Large University. Duval returned to Hoosac Valley Substantial Faculty — which eventually became Hoosac Valley Center and Superior School— as the assistant principal in 2001 and turned principal in 2004.
He transitioned back to the assistant principal following HVMHS’s university creating task was completed in 2012 and, in 2013, moved to PHS as assistant principal.
In 2018, Duval was named interim principal at PHS and was named principal the adhering to 12 months. From November 2020 to November 2021, he stuffed in as the interim deputy superintendent and then went back again to PHS as principal.
The longtime administrator will skip performing with pupils the most, especially viewing them graduate.
“What I will overlook most are the pupils. It has been a privilege to function with the youth of Berkshire County for the earlier 28 several years. Teenagers convey a fantastic offer of energy to university each and every working day and I will miss that,” he wrote.


“Also, graduation has always been my most loved party of the 12 months. Looking at these students who experienced appear into large faculty as young children then stroll across the phase as grownups 4 many years later. It is a rewarding encounter to have performed even a compact section in that system.”
On the other hand, Duval additional that performing with young adults will come with a ton of drama that he will not overlook.
The COVID-19 did have some affect on his decision to retire. Each digital finding out and Duval’s move to interim deputy superintendent produced him sense distant from the college students.
The strength of PHS directors assured Duval that he is leaving the school in very good arms.


“Following being in distant discovering and hybrid mastering through the early levels of the pandemic, I experience like I commenced to drop connections with the learners. I consider to be noticeable in the building as substantially as possible and this is how I historically make connections with the pupils. Devoid of looking at them each individual day, it became more durable and more durable to build relationships with them,” he wrote.
“My distance from the students grew wider when I took on the interim deputy superintendent place in November of ’20. I understood when I returned to PHS in the tumble of 2021 that my individual electrical power was not there any more. We have an superb group of younger administrators at PHS, Assistant Principal of Educating and Finding out Maggie Esko, Vice Principal Alison Shepard, and Dean of College students Lavante Wiggins, and they have designed solid connections with our college student populace. This has produced my determination to action down an simple 1.”


Duval claims he has no rapid strategies when he departs the Pittsfield Public Schools.


“I would love to say that I will be retiring to the golfing system, but I hope to uncover something intriguing to continue to keep me occupied for a few extra years at minimum,” he stated.
Early this 7 days, Superintendent Joseph Curtis despatched an e mail to the district calling for 8-12 users to serve on a Pittsfield Higher School 1st Spherical Interview Committee. This committee will decide on two to a few candidates for Curtis and a committee to interview.
The panel will carry out to start with-spherical interviews for the new PHS principal in human being at the conclude of March. Users will have to take part in an orientation that incorporates consciousness to avoid personalized bias in the job interview course of action, assessment all applications submitted, decide on a listing of candidates to interview, finalize a steady checklist of queries for each and every candidate, and assess every candidate’s responses applying the Massachusetts Section of Early and Secondary Education’s School Level Administrator Rubric.
A task description for the position reads: “PHS is looking for an adaptive and ground breaking educator to shut the chance hole, empower educators and maximize mastering for all pupils. Suitable candidates will have a verified observe report in tutorial leadership resulting in strong academic gains. Furthermore, profitable candidates will have shown expertise in range, fairness, and inclusion tactics which includes fostering a details-driven culturally responsive classroom tradition, the use of restorative procedures, and producing a basis for caregiver and local community engagement that brings all voices to the desk.”

Tags: PHS, principal, retirement,
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