A New Year With New Leadership at Mastricola

Sometimes starting a new job requires a little hand-holding, but for Jay Gratton, the new assistant principal at Mastricola Elementary School, it wasn't what he expected.

“On my first day, I was giving a tour of the school to a kindergartener and first-grader and as we started walking down the hall they each took my hand,” Gratton said.

Gratton, formerly an educator at the middle school and high school levels, who moved into the elementary school role over the summer, admitted it surprised him.

“It made me talk a little step back,” Gratton said, pointing out a significant difference in working with teenagers and very young students.

But Gratton is excited to plunge head first in this new role as school opens today, especially because his partner in education administration, Principal Emilie Carter, is brand new to her role, too.

Carter was previously the assistant principal at MES for the last five years, so it's certainly not all new to her, and when the kids step off their buses today, her familiar face will be greeting them with a smile.

Carter has worked in the assistant principal capacity for the last seven years, with two years as an assistant principal in Hudson.

She has taught as a one-on-one para professional, as a special education teacher and in the classroom. In fact, she taught at James Mastricola Upper Elementary School the year it opened.

“It was really a great time for me to dig in and see how you open up a building,” Carter said.

Carter this year steps into the shoes left by Jon Fabrizio, who is now the Director of Special Services for SAU 26.

Gratton worked for four years in special education at Londonderry High School and two years at Woodbury Middle School in Salem before making his way to Merrimack High School where he also served as a football and track coach.

“That was really hard to give up this year,” he said.

But administration has been a part of his educational goals for many years. Like some families are full of doctors or lawyers, Gratton comes from a family of educators – both of his parents worked in schools – his dad a principal for 28 years.

Gratton said being at his father's retirement party, he saw first hand the kind of impact he had on the people around him and he knew then that he wanted to get into administration.

He earned his certification in June.

Carter also knew at a young age that she wanted to work in education. She recalls, as a fifth-grader working with younger kids in her school and learning strategies to help them behave appropriately. She knew then that her path was set.

“I've been really, really fortunate to have the career I have and realize those seeds planted in fifth grade,” Carter said.

The pair is looking forward to the challenges the school year brings, knowing that they will learn from one another along the way. Carter said Gratton has been a sponge this summer, and very supportive. She knows he'll use what he's learned and be able to offer a lot of fresh perspective.

“Emilie's support and mentorship has been incredible this summer,” Gratton said.

He also pointed to the combined leadership team, made up of principals and assistant principals at all of the schools, as being instrumental in helping prepare him for the school year.

“This is my third school district, hopefully my last,” Gratton said. “I've never been in a school district where the camaraderie is that of what it is here.”

He said he expects life to be different working with elementary school kids versus high school students, but he's up for the challenge.

“I think every day will have it's own unique challenges and every day will have it's own unique rewards,” Gratton said.

For Carter, life at the helm of MES is a very exciting opportunity and she's very ready to continue a history of excellence, leading a close-knit community of educators, parents and students.

While open houses are held in mid-September, she's more looking forward to the annual Ice Cream Social, scheduled for Oct. 12, which is the first school social of the year where the community will join together.

While planning her faculty address for their first day, Carter said she came across a quote by Theodore Roosevelt that she felt encompassed the way she feels about her job and her school.

“Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing,” Carter said. “We work really hard in the schools – really, really hard – and the prize is the students … It sounds a little idealistic, but it's very heartfelt.”