Thomas Breen Photo
Hillhouse Principal Glen Worthy: DCF bound.
Emily Hays Photo
Joseph Johnson: Bound for Waterbury.
The leaders of Hillhouse High and King/Robinson Magnet schools are leaving town for new opportunities.
Glen Worthy is resigning as Hillhouse principal as of March 15 after leading the school for six years, to become chief of educational services for the state Department of Children and Families. In that role, he will oversee education in all the state’s juvenile detention facilities.
“I’m excited,” Worthy, 56, who has worked for the school system for 29 years, told the Independent.
“It’s tough to leave. I thought I would retire from Hillhouse. But this opportunity presented itself to me. It’s a great challenge.”
Dr. Johnson is resigning as principal of King/Robinson in order to take the post of assistant superintendent of Waterbury’s schools. His first day of work in Waterbury is Thursday.
Dr. Johnson, who is 45, has led King/Robinson for the past five and a half years. He observed that Covid-19 buttressed the public’s “general appreciation for the hard work teachers put in day to day” and built “a strong connection between schools and community” that he hopes survives the pandemic. He spoke of how he and King/Robinson staffers made over 400 home visits to deliver technology or materials or “do flash cards on people’s porches.”
He said he looks forward to his new challenge in Waterbury but “will miss King/Robinson dearly.”
“I do plan on coming back home” one day to work again in the public schools in New Haven, where he grew up, he said.