Barbara Ann Gould (center) shares a laugh with HES Principal Linda Dwight and Superintendent Joe Connelly on the first day of school last August. (File photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Barbara Ann Gould, who guided several hundred Harvard kindergartners through their first experience of school, died last weekend.
Families with children in the school system learned of her death late in the afternoon of Sunday, March 17, from Hildreth Elementary School Principal Linda Dwight, who informed them that the longtime teacher had passed away suddenly the night before, the result of an accidental drowning in her hot tub. Dwight asked parents to share the sad news with children “in the safety of their own homes.”
According to friends at Hildreth Elementary, emergency medical personnel had been called to the Goulds’ home in Bolton. They tried to resuscitate Gould but were unable to do so. She was taken to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, accompanied by her husband, Jefferson Gould, and was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.
Gould, who was 50, had taught at HES since 1990. At various times, she taught fifth grade, third grade, and special education classes, but most of her career was spent with kindergartners. Besides her husband, Gould leaves her daughter, Darby, who is a senior at Nashoba Regional High School.
Teachers, counselors offer support
A number of Gould’s colleagues dropped by the school Sunday afternoon to attend a gathering arranged by guidance counselor Christine Reale, a close friend. They shared their shock and grief but also planned how to help the 15 children in Gould’s class, as well as the many others who had known her.
In a subsequent email, Dwight gave parents several resources to assist with the difficult conversations they would be having with their children “about the passing of our beloved kindergarten teacher.” Dwight said that Hildreth Elementary would follow its regular schedule on Monday, as that would help students to feel secure.
Superintendent Joe Connelly immediately spoke with other superintendents in the area. Neighboring school systems including Nashoba Regional High School and Florence Sawyer School in Bolton, Page Hilltop Elementary School in Ayer, and Lura A. White Elementary School in Shirley all responded with support, sending nine guidance counselors to help when school opened on Monday. The Rev. Dr. Gregory Schmidt of the Harvard Congregational Church and Father Terence Kilcoyne of Trinity Parish Roman Catholic Church also came to help.
Hildreth Elementary School faculty met Monday at 7:45 a.m. to prepare for supporting students and one another through the day. As children began to arrive, many Harvard parents brought flowers and food to school for the faculty and staff.
Besides the substitute teachers who were in place for Gould and her assistants, several roving substitutes were available for teachers who themselves needed to take short breaks during the day. Counselors set up stations around the school, where teachers could bring students who seemed sad or upset.
A ‘person to look up to’
In an email to parents at the end of Monday, Principal Dwight described some of the art projects that students were creating in memory of Gould:
“The whole school began an art project of memories on pink leaves for a tree to be displayed in the cafeteria. Here is a fifth grade example: ‘You were always kind to me. When I passed by in the halls you would always ask how I was doing. I believe you were the kind of person to look up to.'”
A funeral service for Gould will take place Saturday, March 23, at 10:30 a.m. at the Unitarian-Universalist Church in Harvard.
