By Michelle Kim
 

DUNBARTON – After nearly four decades as an educator and 20 as a school administrator, Dunbarton Elementary School Principal Brent Rogers is ready for a change of pace.

Rogers, who came to Dunbarton three years ago, is retiring from education at the end of the year and is going into business as a handyman.

He said he started thinking about retirement in the fall and decided it was the right time for him.

“It’s just my next step,” said Rogers. “I’m not retiring from something but to something.”

Becoming an independent contractor would also allow Rogers, a Hampton resident, to spend more time with his wife, Sharon, a teacher for third- and fourth-grade in Seabrook, his 16- and 40-year-old daughters and three grandchildren.

He said he is going to miss just about everything about the job.

“I’m going to miss the kids, the community involvement. It’s an incredible community,” he said of Dunbarton.

One thing he will not miss, he said, is the school’s heating and ventilation system, which has presented a number of challenges.

During his time at Dunbarton, Rogers has overseen a science curriculum revision in the district and on the SAU level and was involved in a social studies curriculum revision as well and has written grants to bring in money for improved technology, according to SAU 19 Superintendent Darrell Lockwood.

Rogers said he is pleased at being able to keep lines of communication open between the school and community. He hopes the next principal will be able to continue to move Dunbarton forward in improved instruction and student learning.

“When he told us he would be leaving, I was quite disappointed because he’s done a very fine job,” said School Board Chairman Betty Ann Noyes. “I wish him well.”

Board member Debra Foster described Rogers as a super principal.

“We’re very sad to see him leave. He’s been wonderful,” she said. “We’ve had very little turnover in the three years since he’s been here.”

Lisa Poirer, head of the Parent Teacher Organization, echoed those sentiments and said she enjoyed working with him.

“I felt he was a good administrator,” she said.

Residents who want to be on the search committee for the next principal can send letters of interest to the board, care of SAU 19, with a deadline of Jan. 30. The committee will be a cross-section of the community, she said, with teachers, administrators and community members, said Noyes.

Advertisements for the position will go out toward the end of the month and applications will be due Feb. 15.

There will also be a public meeting within the first half of February for the community to brainstorm the qualities it would like to see in the next principal, according to Foster. This would give the selection committee guidance on what to look for in candidates, she said. The date of the public meeting is still to be determined but would be posted on the school and town Web sites.

Both Noyes and Foster said they felt it is important to have someone who could relate and interact well with community members.