Brooke Clenchy, one of two remaining finalists for the Nauset School Superintendent, set out to be a teacher before she even entered kindergarten. She and her brother played school at home from the time Clenchy was four or five.
“My poor brother, always the student and never the teacher,” she told the Independent, remembering how she used to monopolize their imaginary classroom. When she finally did get to kindergarten, her leadership skills set her apart, she said. Her teacher, Mrs. Moore, separated students into groups and designated Clenchy the leader of hers.
Clenchy said she still talks about Mrs. Moore when she gives presentations about how teachers influence children. “I can still see the kindness on her face, and the warmth,” she said.
Clenchy has two decades of experience as a school administrator. She grew up in Ontario, Canada and received a bachelor’s degree in education from Queen’s University at Kingston. She grew up playing the piano and also has a degree in music, which was among the first subjects she taught in grades 2 to 12 at the Three Hills, then the Grasslands Schools in Alberta.
“I have such a love for the arts,” Clenchy said. She said that across her career as a superintendent, she’s tried to protect the arts from budget cuts. “I just knew that arts and athletics helped to shape our children as much as the academics did.”
Clenchy said throughout the Covid-19 pandemic she’s worked especially hard to balance academic and social-emotional learning. “This is not a normal time for any of us to experience,” she added.
Nauset’s strategic plan, which outlines the district’s goals for learners and educators over the next five years, states that fostering “self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making” will help students form healthy relationships and achieve academic success. Clenchy agrees, calling these cornerstones of a supportive and sustainable learning environment.
So is ensuring that every student eats, said Clenchy. When she was superintendent of the Winchendon Schools, she said, she streamlined the process of applying for free and reduced lunch by reducing paperwork.
“When a child is well fed, when they’re well taken care of, then the academics come naturally,” said Clenchy. “But you have to make sure that those other pieces are in place.”
Clenchy held her first acting superintendent position in 2002-2003 at the Golden Plains School Division in Saskatchewan after an unexpected resignation from the sitting director. She oversaw schools in multiple communities and participated in discussions and events preceding the school division’s regionalization.
In the U.S., Clenchy got her first teaching certification from Maine in 2003. She led Maine School Administrative District #45 in Washburn as superintendent from 2003 to 2007.
At that point, she began getting certified in Massachusetts. Clenchy had spent years visiting cousins in Boston, where she said she would look out over the city and river and think “this is where I want to be.” The Mass. Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education granted Clenchy’s certification in 2008. She then became superintendent in Winchendon before going to Ashland.
Most recently, she was superintendent of the Nashoba Regional School District in Bolton.
“One of the things I really like about regional districts is that each community has its own story, its own dynamic, its own legacy, its own set of core values,” she said. Along with maintaining consistent educational experiences across schools that feed into regional high schools, Clenchy said, “It’s always been critically important to me that those communities retain who they are in their schools.”
Clenchy hasn’t worked in a district with school choice before but said she supports the idea. When asked how she might combat falling enrollment, she said she expects that the renovation of Nauset Regional High School, due to begin in February, will generate excitement and attract students to the system. She also thinks community initiatives to pay for pre-K programming for three- and four-year-olds in Orleans, Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro, and Provincetown may attract more young families to the district.
While Clenchy was superintendent at Nashoba, the Boston Globe reported in November 2019 that a group of parents sought an independent investigation into the district’s handling of a criminal case against teacher Dorothy Veracka, who pleaded guilty to sending nude photos to a 15-year-old student.
The group of parents who called for the investigation alleged that Nashoba Regional High School Principal Paul DiDomenico insufficiently investigated accusations against Veracka. They also pushed for Clenchy to be put on administrative leave, saying she would be unable to be impartial in an investigation.
Attorney Tim D. Norris, working for the Nashoba School Committee, submitted a report on the investigation on March 11, 2020. He wrote, “It is the province of the school committee to determine whether Superintendent Clenchy engaged in actionable misconduct.” Three weeks later, MassLive reported that the school committee unanimously agreed Clenchy wasn’t at fault.
Clenchy said she did not hear about the nude photos until late September, although she was aware in July that Veracka had given intoxicated students rides home from a party.
Working to rebuild the community’s trust in the administration, Clenchy said she met a number of times with the district’s entire staff. The administration hired a panel of human resources and legal representatives for a Q&A session, then hired a trauma specialist for students.
In a public forum held by the Nauset superintendent search committee on Monday evening, Clenchy was asked about maintaining fiscal responsibility in the region.
“I would very much like to see a greater connection between department chairs to monitor expenditures throughout the course of the year,” she said.
The reduction of face-to-face connection among students, staff, and educators brought about by Covid-19 has been difficult, Clenchy said. But she added that the questions she asks herself are the same as they were before the pandemic: “How do we make education come alive? How do we make education so it’s impactful for children? Is it relevant? Is it meaningful? When I know that the answer is yes, I know that we’re doing what’s right for children.”
