Valley Regional High School - Administration

Administration

After Principal Alan Frishman and his Associate Principal vacated their posts at the close of the 2005-06 academic year - following a major school renovation and a pending NEASC accreditation - Valley Regional High School has had a relatively high turnover in these two key administrative positions.

Following successful careers at Portland High School in Portland, Connecticut, Donald Gates and Michael Sidoti agreed to come out of retirement during the summer of 2006 to serve as interim Principal and Associate Principal, respectively, for the upcoming academic year. These two men oversaw the reaccreditation of the high school by NEASC and generally, were quite popular among faculty, staff, and students. By June 2007, then-Superintendent of Schools Kim Caron asked Gates and Sidoti to remain for a second interim year through 2007-08, citing the need for stability of leadership at the high school. Gates and Sidoti accepted, however only Gates remained by the end of that academic year, after Sidoti resigned due to illness. Subsequently, the high school was led by Principal Ian Neviaser, a former social studies teacher and Assistant Principal at Guilford High School, and Kristina Martineau, selected as his Associate Principal. After one year on the job, Neviaser was the recipient of the Connecticut Association of School's "Outstanding First Year Principal" Award.

At the regional level, in Spring 2009 Superintendent of Schools Kim Caron resigned. By July of that year, then-Assistant Superintendent Ruth Levy was selected by the Region 4 Board of Education to succeed Caron as Superintendent. At the time, Levy stated she was firmly committed to maintaining continuity in a regional school district that had seen many abrupt administrative and budgetary changes over the last three years.

Shortly after Levy's selection as Superintendent, Neviaser was chosen as the next Assistant Superintendent during Summer 2010, after serving just two years as principal of the high school. Neviaser replaced Diane Dugas, who resigned in May after about nine months on the job. A search for Nevaiser's replacement was undertaken immediately.