NES principal steps down after year on the job
BY STEVE SHEPPARD INDEPENDENT WRITER
Nantucket Elementary School principal Paul Koulouris told teachers and staff yesterday afternoon that he will be stepping down after the current school year and moving back to Vermont to teach at the college level.

The Independent file Paul Koulouris: "It's not that I don't like Nantucket. I love teaching. I'm fortunate to have the ability to make the choice; it was a tough one."

Koulouris will be a full professor of education at Green Mountain College in Poultney. "It's not that I don't like Nantucket," he said. "I love teaching. I'm fortunate to have the ability to make the choice; it was a tough one."

Koulouris was named elementary school principal last July 17, taking over for Nancy Larrabee, who moved to the high school as director of health, athletics and physical education. Koulouris was one of 24 applicants for the elementary school position and one of six who were interviewed. He signed a one-year contract.

A teacher and school administrator for 33 years, Koulouris was an associate professor in the education department at Champlain College in Burlington, Vt. before coming to Nantucket.

The move to Poultney will take him closer to Burlington, where his mother resides in an assisted living situation. Koulouris is her guardian.

Schools superintendent Dr. Robert Pellicone said a new principal search will be conducted. Candidates for an assistant principal position at the elementary school have been interviewed in recent weeks, but Pellicone said that search, too, will be re-evaluated in light of Koulouris's resignation.

"I think we were very fortunate to have Paul Koulouris here for the past school year," school committee chairman Susan Genthner said yesterday afternoon. "He came to us with a lot of experience, both as a principal and as a professor. It was a great opportunity to have him in our system and support all the successes we had at the elementary school, as well as help with some of the challenges.

"I know we have a lot of expertise on our staff," she continued, "but it's always nice to have another set of eyes that can assess what some of the needs are, and put us on the road to improvement. Obviously you can't do a lot in a year, but he worked with the superintendent and assistant superintendent in starting to implement the things that will improve school performance."

She said the schools will be looking for "the best candidate" to take his place.

An Amherst College graduate, Koulouris received his Master's degree in education from Harvard. He worked for 15 years in the Dennis- Yarmouth and Harwich school systems, and served as principal in three different school systems before moving to the island.

He said it was easy to name the best part of living on Nantucket. "The children. The children of Nantucket are wonderful. I'll miss

them the most." I