LONDONDERRY — Jason Parent is settling into his first week as principal of Londonderry High School with 1,833 students.
He took over the reins from Jim Elefante in June shortly after graduation. Parent was an assistant principal and director of alternative services at the high school for five years. He was named 2007 New Hampshire Assistant Principal of the Year and recognized for his successful alternative education programs that has brought the dropout rate at Londonderry High to under 1 percent.
Parent is a native of New Hampshire. He grew up in Manchester and attended Memorial High School. He then went to Keene State College for his B.A. and Plymouth State College for his M.Ed.
Prior to coming to Londonderry High, Parent taught English at Goffstown High School for eight years, where he also was a varsity baseball coach.
Parent and his wife, Heather, live in Auburn and they have three children: Gavin, 5, Colin, 3, and Liam, 1 month old.
Q. You're planning to move to Londonderry. Why did you and your family make this decision?
My family and I made the decision to move to Londonderry because it was a quality of life issue. It was important to not only be closer to work given the vast amount of time a principal spends on school grounds in the afternoons and evenings, but we also wanted to raise our children in this community and I wanted them to be a part of what makes this school district so special.
Q. What are your short-term goals for your first year as principal?
My short-term goals as principal are for our administrative team to get into the classrooms on a daily basis and continue to reflect on our instructional practices. Other goals include an enhanced recycling effort and going green, posting more information on our school's Web site, and focusing on the self-study phase for New England Association of Schools and Colleges accreditation. We also are working with a new student management system — X2 — which will help us operate more efficiently and allow our communication channels within the building to increase substantially.
Q. How do you feel about high school students telecommuting instead of spending time in the classroom with their peers?
There is obviously tremendous value in students spending time in classrooms because it allows them to interact and engage in spirited discussion with their peers and the teacher. They learn from each other and about one another, so they can begin to understand other perspectives that may or may not help shape theirs. Although there are many online options and telecommuting forums for high school students to pursue, I don't think you can replicate what takes place in the classroom. I see telecommuting as an additional option for students who cannot physically be in a particular class for whatever reason, and this is another educational resource they could pursue.
Q. Being principal and a father of three young children, you probably don't have much spare time. Do you have any sports or hobbies that you pursue?
I am a family man, so my interests really revolve around my children and spending quality time with my wife. I coached my son's T-ball team this past summer, and will watch his football games this fall, along with my middle boy who starts soccer. I enjoy sports and reading.
Q. Now that Jim Elefante has left the building, do you feel you have to continue to be a Yankees fan?
I was a Yankee fan long before I had the pleasure of working with Mr. Elefante. The fours years we spent on the LHS administrative team together were some of the best of my professional career. I now have one less Yanks' fan to talk baseball with in the building, but he was gracious enough to leave me his Yankee signs, including one that remained on the door to the principal's office.
