Winchester School District names new administrators

Tom Benoit, The Keene Sentinel, N.H.
·2 min read

Jul. 1—WINCHESTER — Following the departure of several top administrators, the Winchester School District is moving forward with a new group of leaders, including a familiar face as principal.

Megan Pouliot is the new principal of Winchester School after teaching for 15 years there, the district announced in a news release Thursday. Pouliot has been teaching 3rd, 4th and 5th grades and serving as the school's N.H. Dance Institute year-long coordinator and Girls on the Run program coach.

Pouliot succeeds Valerie Carey, who was principal of the Winchester School since 2018 and left to become the principal of Marlborough School.

Along with Carey's departure, two other administrators, Superintendent Kenneth Dassau and Assistant Principal Gary Tashjian are retiring from the district, according to the release.

Lynn Carey is the school district's new superintendent. According to the news release, Lynn Carey brings 25 years of experience, having served as assistant superintendent of the Westminster, Vt.-based Windham Northeast Supervisory Union and other administrative roles in the Monadnock and Fall Mountain regional school districts.

She is succeeding Dassau, who stepped down from his Surry, Sullivan and Winchester superintendent positions. Dassau said he gave his notice to the Winchester School District a year in advance, as per his contract, and began the resignation process with Sullivan and Surry in September.

Dassau led the Winchester District between 2005 and 2012, and again from 2018 to present. He was superintendent of the Surry and Sullivan school districts since 2010 and 2013, respectively.

Allison Noel will serve alongside Pouliot as assistant principal. Noel comes to Winchester from the Winchendon, Mass., school district where she served as the dean of students and a math teacher.

The release also notes that Teresa Taylor has been the district's business manager since March 2021.

The Winchester School District has one school that serves pre-K through 8th grade. Winchester School enrolls around 360 students, with older students attending Keene High School.

Tom Benoit can be reached 352-5993 or tbenoit@keenesentinel.com.