Sue Frederick, who has served as principal of the Hildreth Elementary School since September 2014, announced in an email Friday, March 30, that she will be resigning effective June 30. Frederick said she had been offered a new three-year contract at HES but had decided to leave at the end of her current one.
“I have enjoyed my time at Hildreth and have been honored to work with your children and watch them grow as learners and young people over the past three years,” Frederick wrote in her email to Hildreth families. “The commitment to education that is embraced by this community is impressive.”
The Press contacted Frederick for additional comment, but she said that for now she preferred to let her letter to parents speak for itself.
Asked about Frederick’s resignation, School Committee Chairwoman SusanMary Redinger said, “I’ll miss her. I’ve loved working with her, and she’s done an excellent job.” Redinger explained that the School Committee had not met since the announcement, but members would take up the matter at their next meeting and begin the search for a new principal.
Superintendent Linda Dwight also praised Frederick’s contributions to HES and the district. “In the three years that Sue has worked in our district, she has provided strong, experienced leadership,” Dwight wrote in an email to the Press. “She has researched and forwarded innovative ideas, better parent communication, and more robust data analysis.” Dwight praised Frederick’s commitment to balancing academic achievement with student well-being, in accordance with the district’s vision statement, as well as the elementary school’s “pawsitive” behavior program to foster respect and kindness. “We will miss her energy, educational knowledge, and dedication to students,” Dwight wrote.
Frederick has been deeply involved for the past year in the plans for renovations at the elementary school. She took an active part in a meeting of the School Building Committee with the project architects last Friday afternoon, even as the letter announcing her departure went out to the community.
Before coming to Harvard, Frederick was principal of the Elmwood Elementary School in Millbury, a position she held for six years. Previously she had served for four years as a vice principal and then a principal in Holyoke and six years as a school psychologist in Pittsfield.
