Michael Horton named administrative intern at elementary school
BY STEVE SHEPPARD INDEPENDENT WRITER
Nantucket High School math department head Michael Horton will leave the classroom next Monday to become an administrative intern at the elementary school and work towards certification as a principal.

School committee chair Sue Genthner and schools superintendent Dr. Robert Pellicone said Horton will work with interim elementary school principal Dr. Carlos Colley in the new, one-year program geared toward helping teachers become administrators.

Horton will continue to receive his teacher's salary during his leave from the classroom, and both Genthner and Pellicone said Horton's placement in the program does not mean he is being tapped to be named the new elementary school principal.

"This does not guarantee an administrative position in the long run," she said. "The search is still on for two principals (at the elementary school and the Cyrus Peirce School). We wanted to give professional development opportunites at the administrative level."

"This will lead towards certification," Dr. Pellicone said. "Principal certification usually takes more than a year."

Michael Fleischut, who taught in New York and is married to Theatre Workshop of Nantucket's producing director Jordana Fleischut, will take over for Horton in the classroom.

Another high school math teacher, Delphine Sourian, was selected to be an administrative intern in the schools' central office, but she decided to stay in the classroom. Dr. Pellicone said having two teachers from the math department selected for the program factored in her decision. "She saw it could have an impact on students and elected not to go forward," he said. Both teachers applied to the program that attracted four candidates by a Sept. 1 deadline. Horton was named to the program Monday.

The administrative intern program comes after interim principals were put in place at the elementary and middle schools, and after one middle school candidate recently turned down the offer to move here. Genther said the intern program will "give teachers the opportunity to go to the next level in their careers," and has the potential to help address future administrative needs.

Dr. Pellicone said he has seen the success of similar programs in other school districts he has worked in. "This is a way for us to showcase individuals from within the district, and gives us an opportunity to work with them," he said.

"I think the whole administrative intern program is a great opportunity," he continued. "This will give Michael the opportunity to be mentored by someone like Carlos." Horton has worked in the Nantucket school system since 2002. Besides being math department head, he has also been senior class advisor for several years and summer school coordinator. He will continue to

coach the high school golf team. I