TEMS Principal to Leave South Windsor for Bolton Superintendent Job

After more than 11 years in the South Windsor public school system, Timothy Edwards Middle School Principal Kristin Heckt is leaving to take the superintendent of schools job in Bolton.

Heckt starts her new position on Nov. 26.

In doing so, Heckt, who started her career in education in 1990, leaves South Windsor having worked in town since 2000, when she began as an associate principal. She took over as principal of TEMS in January 2006.

Heckt said that the decision to leave was not an easy one to make.

“While I am very excited about joining the Bolton community as their new superintendent, it is bittersweet for me as I have spent the last 12 years as part of the TE family,” she wrote. “During my tenure it has been a time of great change in education and I proud to have worked with such caring, dedicated and committed staff who always focus on what is right and best for kids.  

“Our PTO and the parents have been incredibly supportive over the years as well.  Last, but certainly not least, I am really going to miss the kids.  They are truly what makes the work fun and full of meaning.  It is my greatest hope that I have in some small way made a difference for kids.”

In her tenure at TEMS, Heckt leaves behind an impressive legacy.

“I am extremely proud of the work my staff and I have accomplished together over the course of the last 12 years,” she wrote in an e-mail. “As a middle school we do a fantastic job focusing on the whole child. We have a very strong standards-based curriculum developed by TEMS teachers in professional learning communities where they have learned to utilize data to make informed decisions about teaching and learning.”

In her message, Heckt wrote that TEMS has become a “model” for middle-level SRBI. The students have been involved in many programs such as “Science Olympiad, Math Counts and Mock Trial to Friday night dances and activity nights and a host of sports and other extracurricular activities like the Outdoor Education Club, TETV News, Leo Club and student government.”  

There’s also a mentoring program - a partnership between Youth and Family and the Chamber - that is in its 11th year.

South Windsor Superintendent of Schools Kate Carter, who wrote a letter of recommendation on behalf of Heckt for the Bolton job, said in an e-mail message that she wishes Heckt well in her new role.

Carter wrote in that letter of recommendation that “‘Bolton Public Schools is a community committed to excellence’ and [Carter] was ‘confident that Kristin would carry on that tradition of excellence.’”

Carter said that no steps had been taken as of Monday to determine Heckt’s successor at TEMS.

“I should have more information at the end of the week,” she wrote.

On Monday, the Board of Education met to appoint a personnel search committee for the Timothy Edwards Middle School principal position.