By STEPHEN BEALE
 

GOFFSTOWN - If the Villa Augustina opens again next year, as many parents are now certain will happen, it will be without the support of the Religious of Jesus and Mary as well as the leadership of its principal, Jack Daniels.

Days before a pivotal meeting with parents earlier this month, Daniels announced he would be retiring from his post as principal, which he has held for the past four years. Daniels said he had made up his mind well before the Religious of Jesus and Mary last December decided to end their 90-year affiliation with the school.

In fact, this is not the first or even second time that Daniels, now in his late 60s, has planned to retire. In 1998, he officially retired after more than 30 years in education, dominated by two decades as the principal of the Fairgrounds Junior High School in Nashua.

That same year, however, he was hired as the principal of Londonderry Middle School for what was meant to be an interim, one-year position. Six years later, Daniels again retired.

Then came the opening at the Villa Augustina, a kindergarten through eighth-grade school shaped by the Religious of Jesus and Mary for almost a century. For Daniels, it was a shift from a long career in large public schools to a small, private Catholic institution.

“It was another experience and it has been one that I really enjoyed having,” he said.

His departure comes at a turning point in the history of the school. Confronted with a pressing need for significant repairs and renovations as well as the cost of buying the school from the religious order, parents have launched a full-throttled campaign to reopen the Villa Augustina next year under a lay board of trustees.

Daniels knew that he was embarking on his last year at the school in the summer of 2007.

The timing, he said, was influenced by the fact that his wife, Anne Marie, had herself retired after 30 years as a teacher.

Then, he fully expected that the Religious of Jesus and Mary would accept a purchase proposal from the school board in the fall. Instead, the offer was turned down.

“Though disappointing, it was a blessing in disguise when indeed they announced their rejection of that proposal,” Daniels said.

That blessing has been the outpouring of donations and moral support from parents, teachers, and the Catholic community in the area. Most recently, the president of Saint Anselm College threw the weight of his institution behind the grassroots effort to raise $400,000 for the purchase of the school.

Daniels held off on a public announcement until the Saint Anselm news broke, giving parent leaders confidence that the school would continue.

“I’m comfortable moving on, based on what has happened,” Daniels said. “There’s a lot of strengths to this school.”

He will especially miss the distinctive spiritual atmosphere of the school.

“The walls exude the spirituality of the Religious of Jesus and Mary,” Daniels said. “I feel blessed that I have been able to walk these hallowed walls.”

Carol Barrett, the head of a parent leadership team overseeing the transition, praised Daniels as a Christian man who sets an example for her son. She said Daniels stands out for his dedication to the students.

“He’s very involved with the kids. That’s what is great about him,” Barrett said.

She said his love for the kids has been on full display at the school Cinco de Mayo celebration, when Daniels challenges students to a race — a walk for the younger grades and an actual run for the older ones. Those who beat him win ice cream. It is a tradition that Daniels started.

Barrett said the leadership team has already begun the search for a new principal. But Daniels will be back.

“Whoever they hire, I’ll come back next year and beat them in that race,” he said.

Reproduced by the Goffstown Residents Association.