ERVING — After six months as interim principal, Beth Gannon will be sticking around Erving Elementary School as the permanent principal.

Gannon was offered the position this spring after she applied to stay at the district. As of July 1, Gannon has a three-year contract as principal, ending a chapter of interim principals leading the school since Principal Lisa Candito’s resignation in 2023.

“I’m just thrilled to be selected and I’m just so happy to be able to be there,” Gannon said. “It’s a wonderful community.”

Gannon started work as interim principal on Dec. 2, 2024, to fill the seat vacated by former interim Principal David Krane, who left the school that November. Before arriving to Erving, Gannon gained years of both teaching and administrative experience. She holds seven teaching licenses and earned her master’s degree in education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

One of her more long-term roles was as principal for 14 years at the Margaret L. Donovan Elementary School in Randolph. Other administrative roles Gannon has held include principal in her hometown of Pittsfield and in Lawrence. She also previously taught math to middle school students at Fitchburg Public Schools and she has taught graduate-level courses.

Reflecting on the six months she’s served as interim, Gannon said she’s felt the school has accomplished new things not only in the classroom and in the broader school community, but also on the administrative level. She points to the creation of a committee of staff members who will be working to continue developing the school’s social-emotional learning curriculum, as well as the establishment of a school council that helped create a student handbook. The handbook has since been approved by the Erving School Committee.

In the classroom, Gannon said she’s been able to interact with students, mentioning plans to hold an online safety night once school resumes in the fall, an effort that has been spearheaded by the sixth grade class. The idea is to talk to students and families about being safe online as they use the internet more frequently.

“The sixth grade girls sat down with me and they helped me to figure out, how do we engage the kids? How would we engage the adults? How do we get people to show up for the night itself and to understand the value behind it?” Gannon explained.

Article continues after...

Yesterday's Most Read Articles

These interactive student and family nights are something Gannon mentioned when discussing what she was able to accomplish last school year. Previous events included a math night and a literacy night for students and families.

Now that the 2024-2025 school year has wrapped up, Gannon said she’s thankful that this summer is structured in a way where she can get ready for the fall by continuing to engage with the school community to understand what went well in the winter and spring, as well as what can be improved.

Regarding her decision to stay with the district on a more long-term basis, Gannon said that in her time as interim principal, she has found that the school is unique when compared to the larger school districts where she has worked. To her, the small-town atmosphere of Erving is a great asset to the students, and having a familiar face at the school will also benefit the kids.

“I think that the ability to personalize education is really the biggest advantage that Erving presents to a child, and that’s certainly what I walked away at the end of this year feeling like,” she said. “This is a wonderful and amazing opportunity to be a part of that.”

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.