Community Corner

Kelly Nichols Appointed as New Assistant Principal at Derynoski

The special education teacher and administrative intern that has served the district since 2005 will now join the staff at Derynoski Elementary School next fall.

For the past eight years, Southington resident Kelly Nichols has made a name for herself as a dedicated teacher and education professional, working to improve an already strong special education program at DePaolo Middle School.

Now she is ready for a new challenge.

The Board of Education on Thursday appointed Nichols as the new assistant principal at Derynoski Elementary School. Nichols said Thursday that she was honored to be selected and looks forward to the new challenges that await her.

“I’m very excited and am really looking forward to working closely with Jan Verderame and the team she has put together at Derynoski,” Nichols said. “It’s rewarding to be able to work within the district and to know that the district believes in their own.”

Nichols will replace Marilyn Kahl, who after two years as an assistant principal at Derynoski was promoted to principal and will begin work at Kelley Elementary School in the fall.

School Superintendent Joseph V. Erardi Jr. said Nichols, who was selected from a pool of 175 applicants, will start with a salary of $110,000.

Board of Education Chairman Brian Goralski said the appointment is a testament to the hard work that Nichols has put in since first joining the district in 2005 and added that while it will certainly be a loss for DePaolo Middle School, it is a tremendous gain for Derynoski.

“As a district, we have always looked to hire the best applicant regardless of whether that is in district or someone from outside the community,” Goralski said. “To rise above from a pool of 175 applicants, it says a lot about her as both an educator and as an individual.”

Nichols graduated from Northeastern University in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and spent several years in the business world before returning to school to receive a Master’s degree in special Education from St. Joseph College in West Hartford in 2005. She has also received a sixth-year degree in educational leadership from Central Connecticut State University.

After working with both Bristol and Southington as a substitute special education teacher, Nichols joined the Southington school district full-time in 2005 and was assigned to work at DePaolo.

In 2012, she completed an administrative internship with the district and was promoted to the role of District TEAM Learning Specialist.

The return to Derynoski is something of a homecoming for Nichols, who was part of the first fifth-grade class to attend Derynoski when it opened as an elementary school in the 1970s and she said she is looking forward to returning to where it all began.

“It’s a special opportunity for me and I’m really looking forward to being part of an already excellent staff that has created such a positive environment for our students,” she said.

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