September 16, 2004: Headlines: COS - Ecuador: Primary Education: Stamford Advocate: Ed Whelan began his teaching career in Ecuador, teaching first- and second-graders as a member of the Peace Corps

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Ecuador: Peace Corps Ecuador : The Peace Corps in Ecuador: September 16, 2004: Headlines: COS - Ecuador: Primary Education: Stamford Advocate: Ed Whelan began his teaching career in Ecuador, teaching first- and second-graders as a member of the Peace Corps

By Admin1 (admin) (151.196.185.151) on Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 3:04 pm: Edit Post

Ed Whelan began his teaching career in Ecuador, teaching first- and second-graders as a member of the Peace Corps

Ed  Whelan began his teaching career in Ecuador, teaching first- and second-graders as a member of the Peace Corps

Ed Whelan began his teaching career in Ecuador, teaching first- and second-graders as a member of the Peace Corps

Newfield principal is retiring

By Tobin A. Coleman
Staff Writer

September 16, 2004

STAMFORD -- Newfield Elementary School Principal Ed Whelan is calling it quits Dec. 1, retiring to Florida after 11 years heading the school on Pepper Ridge Road.

Whelan, 67, said it was a tough decision, but his wife's recent knee surgery made another Connecticut winter a potentially painful one for her. So the time has come to seek a warmer climate.

"It was very, very difficult for me to make the decision," Whelan said yesterday in a telephone interview from his office. "I wanted to finish out the school year, but my wife really didn't want me to commute back and forth to Florida, and she didn't want to come up here in the cold."

Whelan, who has owned a retirement home in Florida for three years, said he and his wife, Marilou, wanted to retire "while we're still young and love to travel."

The couple have a trip planned for Ireland in May and for Australia, New Zealand, Bali and Tahiti in October 2005. "Then we're going to figure out when we can fit in our six weeks of safari-ing in Africa," he said.

Whelan began his teaching career in Ecuador, teaching first- and second-graders as a member of the Peace Corps. When he returned, he earned a master's degree from Harvard.

He then taught fourth and sixth grades, and became an administrator when he was hired as an assistant principal in the Hartsdale-Greenburg Central 7 School District in Westchester County, N.Y., in 1969.

Whelan's career has taken him to nine different school systems in four states and two continents over 41 years.

Whelan was principal for eight years at the elementary school he graduated from as a child, the Valley Cottage Elementary School in Nyack, N.Y.

For two years ending in 1994 he was a schools superintendent in Guttenberg, N.J.

"I realized you don't work as much with children as superintendent, and it's a political arena. Then I saw the job advertised in Connecticut."

He has been at Newfield ever since.

People who have worked with Whelan say he has a unique personality and it will be difficult to replace him.

"I remember walking in there on Flag Day in June, and he was totally dressed . . . from head to toe, in stars and stripes, with a hat, everything," said Board of Education President Kim Olds, chuckling. "I know some staff that work at the school who think the world of him. It will definitely be a loss for the district. . . . You speak to him, and he totally lights up. He's excited about his school, he's extremely proud of his school and everything that he has accomplished."

Terri Lipscomb, who teaches second grade and reading at Newfield, said the staff is happy that he has a chance to retire but sad to see him go.

"We'll have tears in our eyes that he's going," Lipscomb said. "The school's going to miss him deeply. He's brought a really good rapport with the staff at our building. He makes it seem like one big happy family. He has just one big heart. It's going to be hard."

Lipscomb said Whelan's Flag Day attire was not unusual: Any given Halloween would usually see Whelan "dressed to the nines, like the kids," and Whelan would organize a pumpkin-carving contest, she said.

The Board of Education has already begun advertising for a replacement, said Personnel Administrator Peter Dibble. There will be a 30-day job-posting period, after which a selection committee will review applicants' qualifications. Dibble said typically a principal's job attracts about 20 qualified applicants. The selection committee will interview eight to 10 candidates.

The selection process will include participation from members of the school community, Dibble said. Teachers, department heads, custodians, secretaries and Parent Teacher Organization members will form a team that will interview the finalists. They will submit their recommendations to schools Superintendent Anthony Mazzullo, who will choose a final candidate. The Board of Education will interview the candidate before taking a vote.

Dibble said the fact that the job is opening in December might discourage some applications from principals in other districts who are just starting their academic year. But he said the attraction of working in Stamford will draw plenty of qualified candidates.

Olds said the district has a history of promoting its own assistant principals when a principal position becomes vacant. The unusual mid-year timing would not be a hindrance to any of those applicants who would seek a promotion rather than a change to a new district, she said.

Whelan called his time at Newfield "my best assignment" in 41 years.

"I'll miss the kids terribly," Whelan said. "I like to get into the classrooms as often as possible, I don't want the kids to be afraid of the principal. I tell them that principal is spelled with a p-a-l and I'm here to help them."

Copyright © 2004, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.





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Story Source: Stamford Advocate

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Ecuador; Primary Education

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