SOUTHWICK – Longtime Powder Mill Middle School Principal Ronald Peloquin will retire at the end of this school year.
Peloquin has been with the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District for 19 of his 36 years in education.
The Southampton resident said he still has some years left in him, but the timing to leave Powder Mill is right.
“My decision comes down to the transition of the structure to a (grade) three to six building,” said Peloquin. “The administration should be there at its inception – it will take on a new structure and a new vision.”
Powder Mill is slated to become an intermediate school now that grades seven and eight have merged with the high school. Woodland Elementary School will become a school for preschool through grade two, and Woodland Principal Kimberly Sasso will be the new powder Mill Principal.
Superintendent John Barry said a search committee has been formed for a new Woodland principal and they hope to have a new principal in place this spring so there is some overlap.
Peloquin praised Sasso.
“She will do well,” he said. “She has the experience and vision to succeed.”
As for Peloquin, his immediate retirement plans include no plans at all.
“This has been such a big part of my life, I just want to take some time and see what life’s like without it,” he said of his almost four decades in middle school education.
Peloquin hopes to travel with his wife Lisa, a teacher, in their RV. He also wants to devote more time to his beloved car collection.
“I have mostly American work cars – Chevy and Ford – and a few British sports cars,” he said. “I have them from the 30s to the 70s and 80s.”
Retirement could bring more opportunities to work on his cars and even show them at cruise nights.
“I have some other hobbies I’m hoping to expand on,” he said.
Peloquin has a grown daughter he hopes to visit more often, especially when his wife retires in several years. Peloquin said he knows he won’t stay fully retired for long.
“I’m exploring options, including possibly teaching at a college,” he said. “I’m keeping up with my principal and superintendent licenses for any interim opportunities. Even my wife said she knows I won’t be able to not work for long!”
Peloquin said his retirement and the transition of Powder Mill are part of “the end of an era” and he will miss his second home in Southwick.
“I spend most of my daylight hours in Southwick,” he said. “In some ways it has become more my community than the community I live in, but I will be back to visit.”
