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Macunas Settling In at John Winthrop Middle School

Charlie Macunas started his new position as interim principal at John Winthrop Middle School following the holiday break and has set out to become familiar with all the staff and students.

“I am still working on finding my way around the school,” said Macunas with a chuckle. “Being here has been informative, challenging, and a pleasure so far and I am enjoying meeting all the students and staff.”

Macunas took the position after former principal Bill Duffy departed the district for a position in Avon. Duffy left John Winthrop after the Thanksgiving holiday break.

The district’s search team for a permanent principal reviewed numerous résumés and conductive several interviews in search of a candidate to fill the principal position, but found no suitable applicants and decided instead to hire Macunas for an interim position while the search for a permanent principal will resume this spring.

Macunas has served in the past as an educator and longtime administrator in Region 17 (Haddam-Killingworth), where he served as assistant principal of the middle school, and principal of Haddam-Killingworth High School. He has also worked as interim administrator in Ellington school systems.

He said so far, he is extremely impressed with the John Winthrop students.

“They are responsible, mature, impressive students and I am looking forward to working with them more,” said Macunas.

He added that his initial advice to the students he has met so far, especially those in the Leadership Class, was “…don’t be a passenger, be a driver. Be active in school and school organizations.”

In the upcoming weeks, Macunas, along with Assistant Principal Peter Foxon, will meet with all the middle school teachers to go over mid-year goals.

“It has been a pleasure to be at the middle school. The staff have all been extremely supportive. I look forward to meeting all of them as we go over the goals in the next couple of weeks. This will give me the opportunity to get my finger on the pulse of the school of a little more and give me a stronger sense of what the staff needs from me,” said Macunas.