Joel Co-Principal Leaving For New Position

Jack Gedney, co-principal of the Lewin G. Joel Elementary School in Clinton for eight years, is heading “home” to Burlington, Connecticut, where he resides.

“I’m taking an hour and a half commute down to eight minutes,” said Gedney.

Gedney will be taking over the position of principal at the Lake Garda Elementary School – the same school where he conducted his teaching internship while studying at UConn.

His mentor, the former principal of the 630-student school, is retiring, said Gedney. The school has a principal (Gedney’s new position) and an assistant principal.

His last day at the Joel School will be June 30.

“Clinton will always be a part of my life and close to my heart,” said Gedney, who said despite his long commute, had not been looking for a new position.

“In my eight years in Clinton I never looked around,” he said. “Right now, I feel like I’m leaving my Joel family. It’s been an emotional month.”

Gedney said his own family – wife, kids and grandchildren, have seen little of him due to the long commute to Clinton. He said he looks forward to watching his grandson play a Little League game.

“I love my kids at Joel, the staff, Claudia (Norman, co-principal) and the community,” he said.

The Board of Education plans to discuss Gedney's resignation at their June 6 meeting.

As a reminder to the community, meetings of the Board of Education are open to the public. They are held in the BOE meeting room adjacent to the Joel School on the first Monday of each month at 7:30pm.

Stay tuned to the Clinton Patch on a follow-up to this story.