Sharon Elementary School Welcomes Moran as Principal

Talk to Sharon Elementary School’s new principal, Sheila Moran, for any length of time and it becomes readily apparent that she cares about public education and particularly rural schools.

Moran, who holds a Bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and a Master’s degree from Columbia University’s Teachers College with a concentration in early childhood and curriculum development, has spent most of her adult life working in educational settings.

She came to Sharon following a "year of R & R." Prior to this, she was principal of the Rivendell School in Orford, NH for three years, where she contributed in the effort to establish a new building. She was also principal of the Thetford Elementary School for five years and during most of the 1980s served as director of the Upper Valley Teacher’s Institution, an organization that enables individuals without an education degree to earn their teaching certifications.

Moran also spent two years working with the Annenberg Rural Challenge, a foundation dedicated to funding models and supporting policy of effective rural schools throughout the country. Last year, she chose to take a break and enjoy her son’s nuptials, but soon found herself "eager to get back to school" and welcomed the opportunity at Sharon.

Moran now finds herself principal of approximately 130 students in grades K-6. The school staff consists of eight classroom teachers, six other licensed staff, including four part-time teachers, and 10 classroom teaching assistants.

"I am very taken by the sense of community in and around the town of Sharon," said Moran.

During her years with the Annenberg Foundation, Moran explored both the limitations and the advantages of rural schools. In Sharon, she is presently concentrating on "figuring out what’s wonderful and being very much a part of it."

One of Sharon’s biggest assets, she said, is the "community’s sense of commitment to the school." She underscored the school’s active summer program, which served 30 students this past summer or approximately 25% of its population. Among the challenges the school faces, she added, are financing and technology.

"The school operates on a very modest budget," she explained. "There is no physical education teacher and until recently there had been no art teacher. There is a tacit compact with the community that the classroom teachers will fill these needs."

Moran pointed out that while students have access to adequate equipment, she is one of the few staff members to have a new computer.

"There is a need," she said, to let children know that "a rural community can be a place of value, a place where they can one day make a viable living."

While in Orford, Moran helped demonstrate this fact by applying School-to-Work money to a program that encourages students to create sustainable work within a rural population.

Moran lives in Lebanon, NH with her husband David Millstone, a fifth grade teacher in Norwich and a contra-dance caller. Moran herself is a contra dancer and singer, who has participated in the Christmas Revels in Hanover, NH over the years.

They have two grown sons, Matthew Murphy, who lives in Boston with his wife, Annalee, and Ben Murphy, a writer and musician who resides in Brooklyn.

By Kim J. Gifford