New principal, new year for CCS

CORNWALL — By now, whether they will admit it or not, most children are ready to go back to school. It doesn’t matter that summer seemed unusually short because of all  the rain. And anyway, a really good spell of weather probably won’t come until there’s no time to relax and enjoy it.

After a summer that presented its share of sorrow and unexpected events, getting back into the pace of school days may be just what is needed to help youngsters and their parents move on.

At Cornwall Consolidated School, there will be the excitement of a new principal. But Robert Vaughan is planning a low-key start to the new year and this new phase at CCS.

He is following in the footsteps of Kathleen Fitzgibbons, who, he said, made the school a place where students feel safe and supported.

“I think it’s very important now to continue that. It’s a wonderful school, and that’s not to say we don’t need to continue to improve it, but it needs to be a caring and supportive place.�

Vaughan brings with him 38 years in education, both as an elementary school and college teacher, a Title One director, an administrator and a school consultant.  He lives in Lenox, Mass.

He spent the summer touring Cornwall, getting to know its people and places.

An important note: Vaughan may be soft-spoken, but he has great courage. He has made it known that he is a staunch Red Sox fan and is already taking part in the eternal Yankees/Red Sox rivalry in the Region One administration office in Falls Village.

He even showed up for a meeting at the high school last Monday (where he was introduced to every educator in the region) wearing a Red Sox tie.