BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – Kate Kane, a local, longtime educator in the Windham Northeast Supervisory Union (WNESU) school district, was recently named the new principal at Central Elementary School (CES), located at 50 School Street Extension in Bellows Falls. This opportunity is the culmination of a long, steady climb for Kane.
A 1984 Bellows Falls Union High School graduate and valedictorian, Kane grew up in nearby Cambridgeport, and after high school earned a bachelor’s degree, majoring in English and Classics, from Tufts University in 1988.
Around this time she became interested in education, and in 2009, Kane earned a library media specialist certification from the University of Vermont, and early in her WNESU career taught kindergarten for a year while covering a maternity leave. Kane then became the school librarian in Grafton, Saxtons River, and CES, from 2008-2016.
Although enjoying her years as a librarian, in the fall of 2016, Kane would become a full-time teacher at CES for the next eight years (2016-2023), teaching four years in the fourth grade, one year in kindergarten, and two years in second grade. Also, during this time, in 2020, Kane earned an online master’s degree in language and literacy from Lesley University.
From 2023-2025, Kane worked as an instructional coach for kindergarten through sixth grade throughout the WNESU district, while also working towards and receiving a principal license from Upper Valley Educators Institute in Lebanon, N.H.
This accomplishment led Kane to a two-year principal internship at Westminster Center School, before the opportunity to apply for the position of principal at CES presented itself in March. “I applied for the position and was interviewed on March 25,” Kane said in a recent interview.
“The following week I was told that I was a finalist for the position, and a ‘meet and greet’ with staff and the community happened on April 1. I was then officially offered the position on April 8, and the Rockingham Selectboard confirmed my hiring on April 11. I will officially begin on July 1, and I have been working with the current principal, Kerry Kennedy, to make the transition as soon as possible.”
Kane’s immediate goals in assuming the role of CES principal are more of the hard-to-measure kind. “I want to build positive relationships with each student and each staff member,” Kane said. “I would also like to establish a calm, focused atmosphere for learning and teaching, and to ensure that everyone, child and adult alike, feels a sense of welcoming and belonging at CES. It is important to me that every student is excited about coming to school each day for the community, the connection, and the learning they find there.”
Kane really feels a sense of coming home when talking about her new position at a school she already knows very well. “It’s is the place where I spent most of my teaching career, and I know the school from many perspectives: parent, staff (both as a librarian and teacher) community member, taxpayer, and instructional coach working with teachers.
“All of this experience will be helpful when navigating concerns among different stakeholders at CES. I also feel a deep commitment to the children of Bellows Falls and Rockingham,” Kane concluded. “Having grown up here myself, I want to give back to this community that has supported me through the years. Investing in the education and wellbeing of our children is the best way I know to impact the future of our community, state, country, and the world. I am very excited to continue this work in my new role as principal.”