New Hampshire

New Sanborn superintendent takes over

By Ali LaFay
alafay@eagletribune.com
Published: July 2, 2009

KINGSTON — His name is on the door and he has his own e-mail address.

New Sanborn Regional School District Superintendent Brian Blake said the first thing on his list is to make himself at home in his new office in the old Sanborn Regional High School.

"Getting settled is literally the first order of business," Blake said yesterday, his first day on the job. "We had an empty room at this end of the building, so we're all shifting down. I've only unpacked two boxes."

Unpacking aside, Blake has big plans for the school year ahead.

"One of the issues that was identified before I was hired was the need to improve communication with the community and within the schools," he said.

Blake, who lives in Loudon with his wife and two children, plans to use technology such as Twitter and podcasts to help bridge the communication gap.

"I like to utilize technology, so I want to see how we can incorporate those technologies into our communication," he said.

Another one of the new superintendent's goals is to improve overall academic achievement, especially because the high school was put on probation by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges from 2000 to 2007.

"We'll certainly be looking at our test scores," Blake said. "That seems like a logical way to identify where we're struggling."

The budget will be a subject of focus for Blake and the rest of the School Board over the coming months.

"The economy hasn't improved that much and we also need to negotiate two contracts this year," Blake said.

The two contracts on the table will be the teachers contract, which failed to pass in the past two years, and the paraprofessional contract, which will expire this year, Blake said.

Before coming to Sanborn, Blake served as the Farmington school district superintendent for seven years, followed by three years as the Hopkinton school district superintendent. He received an undergraduate degree in individual and family studies from Penn State, a master's degree in psychology from New York University, and a doctorate in educational leadership from Argus University.

Although his initial contract is only for three years, Blake said he hopes to remain at Sanborn for many years to come.

"I applied at Sanborn because I was looking for a district to call home," Blake said. "I hope they'll be willing to have me for many years."

Blake's predecessor, Keith Pfeifer, will now serve as superintendent for the Grantham school district.

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