Teresa Gilbert wasn’t always a teacher. She worked in the private sector for 10 years before she took time off to raise her kids.

Then she became an elementary school teacher for 11 years at Salisbury Elementary School. This year she has earned her spot as assistant principal.

“I went through a program and I went to classes and I had to do a practicum so I did that all last year,” Gilbert said. “Over the summer I met with the old assistant principal, so that was really great… I had to look at what my main responsibilities were, which were 504 Plans.”

Being an assistant principal differs greatly from regular school teacher. “As a sixth grade teacher it was the same routine every day. But now all I have every day is lunch duty in the cafe from 12-1. Other than that it can vary,” said Gilbert.

The first few weeks of school have been pretty good for Gilbert. “ I am lucky enough to have the old assistant principal, she still works in the building. She transferred to a reading specialist job. So I have an awesome resource in the building. If I have questions I can go ask her,” said Gilbert.

Her transition has been easy due to the fact that the old assistant principal still works in the school. She can ask her questions that are specific to her school that she wouldn’t be able to ask other assistant principals in different schools.

When asked if becoming a principal was a goal of hers, Gilbert said “As of right now that is my long term goal, but that’s not to say I might change my mind. We’ll just have to see how it goes.”

Outside of work Gilbert said she likes to do active stuff like hiking. She really enjoys being outside, as a lot of us do, which shows she has a normal life out of school. “I like to be outside…I do watch a fair amount of Netflix too,” said Gilbert.

One of Mrs. Gilbert’s former students, Caitlyn Chaisson said, “she was a really fun teacher and had a lot of patience.”

Another former student, Lindsey Gardella said, “She was the best teacher. She was so fun and at the end of the day she would give us candy.”

In order to get an insight on Gilbert’s training, we went to her mentor, Assistant principal Kathryn Dawe and asked her a few questions. Dawe says that being an assistant principal at Triton High School is wonderful.

Since moving from principal to assistant principal Dawe said, “I have more time to be with students and to work more closely with students then I did before.”Dawe thinks Mrs. Gilbert will do a great job with being the new Salisbury Elementary assistant principal.

“She has a history in the district,” said Dawe. “When you come up through the ranks lots of times there’s pros and cons to it but I think there is more pros. People are going to know her already and she knows all of the kids and the teachers so that part is really going to help her.”