Veteran teacher Justina Boyden chosen as Fayston Elementary’s next principal

July 8, 2023 | By Lisa Scagliotti 

A search committee working quickly as the official 2023-24 school year begins has chosen a veteran teacher at Fayston Elementary School to be the school’s next principal.

Justina Boyden moves from teacher to principal at Fayston Elementary School. Courtesy photo

“We are excited to announce that our top choice, Justina Boyden, was the overwhelming favorite to serve as the next Fayston principal. Justina is a lifelong resident of Fayston, attended the school as a child, graduated from Harwood, and has been a Fayston teacher for the past 27 years,” the committee wrote in an announcement to the community on Friday. 

The search to fill the position came together quickly after Principal Celia Guggemos resigned in mid-June as the school year ended. Guggemos, who led the school for four years, accepted a new position as principal at Berlin Elementary School, a job that will have her working in the community where she lives.

The search committee received four applications for the Fayston job and interviewed two candidates, it said in its announcement.

Included in the announcement were comments from Boyden who said she is “proud and honored” to have been chosen for the new role. 

“I am excited to continue fostering a positive and inclusive learning environment in a place that is near and dear to me. I bring a deep commitment to the Fayston community and a passion for inspiring young minds,” Boyden said. “I look forward to working collaboratively with students, families, caregivers, and staff to ensure academic excellence and personal growth for all.”

A 1992 alumna of Harwood Union High School, Boyden received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Vermont and said she student-taught at what was then Waterbury Elementary School before going to work at Fayston Elementary. Boyden also has a master’s degree in special education from UVM and is currently working to complete a  Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in School Leadership at Saint Michael's College.  

Boyden said she spent 22 years teaching first and second grade. More recently, she’s taught literacy and math in grades 3-6 and worked as an academic interventionist for the past four years.

In addition to classroom and direct work with students, Boyden said she has been an educational consultant with the Center for Responsive Schools for the past eight. She also has been an active member of the Harwood school district’s union leadership for many years as a building representative, vice president, and most recently as current co-president.

Harwood history and social studies teacher Matt Henchen currently is the district’s other union co-president.  “In the fall, the Union will look to find someone to fulfill the remainder of my term,” Boyden said. “We've worked really hard to build a strong Union to support teachers, staff, and faculty and build a collaborative relationship with the Administrative Team.  I have every confidence in Harwood Union Education Association’s Executive Council to continue the hard work.”

Union officers are elected to two-year terms, Boyden said. She and Henchen just finished the first year of their terms. 

Due to the timing of the Fayston vacancy and Boyden’s summer schedule, her start date will be Aug. 8. The hiring committee said it will announce a time later in the summer for the community to meet with Boyden and welcome her in her new role.

June principal shuffle 

It was a string of decisions by a number of school principals that touched off a domino effect of sorts that led to multiple job openings across several school districts late in the school year. 

Berlin Elementary School Principal Aaron Boynton resigned to become principal in Bristol, a job closer to his home in Brandon, according to a Times Argus report. The Berlin job then caught the attention of Guggemos in Fayston who decided to apply given that opening’s proximity to her hometown.  

Former kindergarten teacher, Celia Guggemos moves from the principal’s office in Fayston to Berlin Elementary School. Courtesy photo

“Making the decision to apply and possibly leave Fayston was not easy and the timing was very unexpected,” Guggemos wrote to Fayston staff and families as the school year came to a close in June. “This opportunity is one that I felt imperative to pursue for my family.” 

The Times Argus reported that the Washington Central School District School Board formally accepted Boynton’s resignation and agreed to offer the Berlin principal position to Guggemos at its June 21 meeting. 

The hiring process in the Washington Central district came down to two finalists, the other being Diane Nichols-Fleming, a preschool teacher currently working as supervisor of the early childhood education program at North Country Supervisory Union and a member of the Washington Central School Board, the newspaper reported. That selection process involved multiple interviews and forums that included school faculty, staff and parents. 

In her letter to the Fayston community after accepting the Berlin principal position, Guggemos explained her decision. “I will be able to participate more fully in community events, grow deeper roots here in Berlin and eventually lead the school that my daughter will attend. This shift also allows for a significant shift in achieving a work/life balance for me and my family,” she wrote. 

Guggemos emphasized her strong connection to the Fayston school. The K-6 school is the smallest in the Harwood Unified Union School District; it had an enrollment of 74 students in the fall of 2022. Guggemos noted that her job there for the past four years was her first as a school administrator. Prior to working at Fayston Elementary, Guggemos taught kindergarten for nine years including at Thatcher Brook Primary School in Waterbury (now named Brookside Primary School). Her students knew her there and in Fayston as “Mrs. G.”

Harwood Superintendent Mike Leichliter said the district advertised the Fayston opening starting June 19. It convened a hiring committee to review applications and conduct interviews to fill the principal opening as soon as possible. Contracts for the coming school year began on July 1. 

“Celia is an excellent principal and we are sorry to see her move,” Leichliter said. In an email late last week, he said there already were applicants and that the interview process would take place this week. “I am confident that we will have a strong candidate selected,” he said ahead of Friday’s announcement of the committee’s choice. 

The members of the Fayston Principal Search Committee were: parents and PTO members Andrea Cheney, Deb Powers and Marisa Wilich; special education teacher Erin Affronti; sixth-grade teacher Doug Bergstein; administrative assistant Amy Yavitz; Harwood School Board member Danielle Dukette; Warren School Principal Sam Krotinger; Tanya Cheney, district human resources director; Vermont Principals Association consultant Jay Nichols, and Leichliter.

The committee chose not to make the second finalist for the Fayston position public, Leichliter noted. 

Guggemos said she would work with administrators in the Harwood district and her successor at Fayston to ensure a smooth transition. “This is of great importance to preserve the work that we have all engaged in together,” she said in her letter.

The process to fill the Fayston position also was the first administrator hiring decision for Cheney to participate in as the Harwood district’s new human resources director. The school district has not had a human resources manager. In 2022, outgoing Superintendent Brigid Nease recommended creating the position. Leichliter said the district did not have a suitable candidate until recently. Cheney has worked with the district in the central office overseeing payroll matters and recently completed studies to receive her human resources credential. Leichliter said Cheney moved into the new role on July 1.