Pittsfield High School Principal Henry Duval to Retire After Long Career in Education
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Pittsfield High School Principal Henry Duval will be retiring in the fall after nearly 30 years in public education.
Duval's tenure at PHS will end on July 31 but he will stay into September to facilitate the transition of a new principal.
His career as an administrator in Berkshire County schools began in 2001 — he had been teaching for seven years prior— and he feels that it is time to move on.
"This is my 21st year as a high school administrator (12 years as a principal and nine years as a vice principal), and my 28th year overall in public education. The job of a high school principal tends to be all-consuming. There is never a time that I am not the principal -- evenings, weekends, school breaks, summer vacation. Also, it just feels like it is time to move on," he wrote to iBerkshires in an email.
"I have been doing this for a long time and a lot has changed since my first position as an assistant principal at Hoosac Valley back in the fall of 2001. Hopefully, schools can return to a semblance of normalcy next fall, and it seems like a good time to step aside and let someone else take the reins."
Duval was in administration at Hoosac Valley Middle and High School in Cheshire for 12 years and Pittsfield High School for nine years.
He started in 1994 at Hoosac Valley as a permanent substitute teacher and was hired in 1995 as a social studies teacher at Taconic High School. Duval returned to Hoosac Valley High School — which eventually became Hoosac Valley Middle and High School— as the assistant principal in 2001 and became principal in 2004.
He transitioned back to the assistant principal after HVMHS's school building project was completed in 2012 and, in 2013, moved to PHS as assistant principal.
In 2018, Duval was named interim principal at PHS and was named principal the following year. From November 2020 to November 2021, he filled in as the interim deputy superintendent and then went back to PHS as principal.
The longtime administrator will miss working with students the most, especially seeing them graduate.
"What I will miss most are the students. It has been a privilege to work with the youth of Berkshire County for the past 28 years. Teenagers bring a great deal of energy to school each day and I will miss that," he wrote.
"Also, graduation has always been my favorite event of the year. Watching these students who had come into high school as children then walk across the stage as adults four years later. It is a rewarding experience to have played even a small part in that process."
On the other hand, Duval added that working with teenagers comes with a lot of drama that he will not miss.
The COVID-19 did have some impact on his decision to retire. Both virtual learning and Duval's move to interim deputy superintendent made him feel distant from the students.
The strength of PHS administrators assured Duval that he is leaving the school in good hands.
"After being in remote learning and hybrid learning during the early stages of the pandemic, I feel like I began to lose connections with the students. I try to be visible in the building as much as possible and this is how I traditionally make connections with the students. Without seeing them each day, it became harder and harder to build relationships with them," he wrote.
"My distance from the students grew wider when I took on the interim deputy superintendent position in November of '20. I realized when I returned to PHS in the fall of 2021 that my own energy was not there anymore. We have an outstanding group of young administrators at PHS, Assistant Principal of Teaching and Learning Maggie Esko, Vice Principal Alison Shepard, and Dean of Students Lavante Wiggins, and they have made strong connections with our student population. This has made my decision to step down an easy one."
Duval says he has no immediate plans once he departs the Pittsfield Public Schools.
"I would love to say that I will be retiring to the golf course, but I hope to find something interesting to keep me occupied for a few more years at least," he said.
Early this week, Superintendent Joseph Curtis sent an email to the district calling for 8-12 members to serve on a Pittsfield High School First Round Interview Committee. This committee will select two to three candidates for Curtis and a committee to interview.
The panel will conduct first-round interviews for the new PHS principal in person at the end of March. Members will have to participate in an orientation that includes awareness to avoid personal bias in the interview process, review all applications submitted, select a list of candidates to interview, finalize a consistent list of questions for each candidate, and assess each candidate's responses using the Massachusetts Department of Early and Secondary Education's School Level Administrator Rubric.
A job description for the position reads: "PHS is looking for an adaptive and innovative educator to close the opportunity gap, empower educators and maximize learning for all students. Ideal applicants will have a proven track record in instructional leadership resulting in strong academic gains. Additionally, successful candidates will have demonstrated experience in diversity, equity, and inclusion practices including fostering a data-driven culturally responsive classroom culture, the use of restorative practices, and developing a foundation for caregiver and community engagement that brings all voices to the table."
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