Springs School Appoints New Principal

Erik Kelt has been hired as the next Springs School principal.

The current principal of Chateau Estates School in Kenner, Louisiana, was appointed to the position at a Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, April 18.

“I’m ready to make Springs School my forever home and give you all everything I have and do whatever it takes to make sure all of our kids’ dreams come true,” Kelt said at the meeting. “That’s on us, and that’s my goal and that’s going to be the goal of our school — to set our students up for the absolute very best in high school and beyond. So, thank you so much. I’m really excited for this opportunity.”

Kelt, a Shelter Island native with 11 years of school leadership experience, holds a master’s degree in elementary education from Dowling College and a certificate in school leadership from Harvard University. He is currently a doctoral student at Northeastern University.

The district’s new principal began his teaching career as a fourth grade educator at Indian Pines Elementary School in Lake Worth, Florida, in 2005. The following year, he took a position as a third and fifth grade teacher at P.S. 59 in Brooklyn. He’s taught science and social studies.

Kelt moved to New Orleans in 2008, where he volunteered for Habitat for Humanity International before becoming the middle school assistant principal for the Success Preparatory Academy, a position he held for four years before becoming assistant principal of the Langston Hughes Academy. In 2014, he landed the job of assistant principal at Chateau Estates, a kindergarten-through-eighth grade public school that is rated one of the most improved schools in the Jefferson Parish Public School System in New Orleans. It is a highly diverse Title 1 school that’s earned an “A” rating for serving its over 675 students that Springs Superintendent Debra Winter said has similar demographics to Springs School. Kelt was promoted to principal in 2020.

“Believing in individualized instructional goals for not only students with disabilities, but for English language learners, he propelled his school for success, not only supporting his students, but championing his teachers with weekly walkthroughs, subbing in classrooms and inviting parents and community members to assist him,” Winter said. “His email includes the word “coach,” which he will explain goes back to his teaching days in P.S. 59 in Brooklyn, where he started a basketball team.”

The superintendent said the district received 48 applications for the principal position. Board of Education President Barbara Dayton, Trustee Emma Field, Springs Teachers Association membership, special education teacher Kristy Lamonda and English as a new language teacher Kimberly Royal virtually screened seven of those candidates, and all were moved forward to two committee interviews. One was composed of a group of community members and parents chaired by Springs School Assistant Principal Josh Odom and Board of Education member Erik Fredrickson and the other consisted of teachers representing the various grades and departments and related services chaired by Ken Marlborough, a human resources program administrator for Eastern Suffolk BOCES, and board member Pat Brabant. Winter said one candidate withdrew before committee interviews, and another could not continue due to illness. After spending an hour with each candidate, the two committees came together and recommended three of the five for consideration.

Each was invited back to walk through the school building and spend two hours meeting students and staff, accompanied by Winter, Odom and current Principal Christine Cleary, who is leaving the district to move upstate to tend to her family.

“By the end of the day, it was clear that one candidate rose to the top as the next principal of Springs School,” Winter said, adding she then spent the weekend speaking with Kent’s building administrators, supervisor, a teacher and even a parent, who all sang the principal’s praises.

Accolades included “knows all of the children by name,” “communicates often with weekly and monthly newsletters to parents and staff,” “good at building community and culture,” “greets all students rain or shine,” “makes connections with students,” “is students-first,” “is an instructional leader,” “is in the classroom often,” “subs and teaches when needed,” “is organized and well-planned,” “has high expectations” and “is a rule follower.”

“He will be missed,” one said, “but we know family is important to him, and he has spoken about going home.”

Kelt plans to return to Shelter Island to raise his family, and will immediately be involved in the hiring of an assistant principal to replace Odom, who, as it was announced in February, accepted a principal position in the Montauk School District.

“We were very pleased with the high quality of candidates who applied for the position of principal here in Springs,” Dayton said in an email Tuesday afternoon. “It was a very tough choice, but with input from all of the committees, Mr. Kelt was deemed to be the best candidate to take over the reins from Ms. Cleary in July. His current school is also K-8 and in a district with similar concerns to ours. We think this will be a very good fit and are very excited to have him joining the team.”

Kelt said he learned a lot from the walkthrough, which he said was the best part of the interview process.

“The one thing that stood out to me, by far, was the love of the school and the love of the community and the students there,” Kelt said. “Walking through that last day in classrooms, talking with students and talking with teachers, it was just a beautiful thing. That’s when I knew this is where I needed to be.”

He said his goal is to immediately begin building relationships and working collaboratively to meet school goals.

“The culture there is a really nice thing to see. Academically, I think there’s some opportunity for us to do some really great things, and personally, I feel like I’m bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience, but equally as important, I’m bringing commitment and that school spirit,” Kelt said. “As teachers and staff members probably don’t really realize how great it is, once you step onto that balcony and look from the outside in, there’s just so many good things going on for our kids and for our teachers, and I just want to build upon that and grow as a school and grow as an educator, working side-by-side with teachers and faculty and the community to do great things for our kids, because they deserve it.”