Nashoba Tech Superintendent Announces Retirement

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The superintendent of Nashoba Valley Technical High School has announced she will retire after 19 years in the position.

Dr. Judith L. Klimkiewicz and the Nashoba Tech School Committee have agreed that she will remain in the position until a replacement is announced, which is unlikely to occur before January 2016, according to a press release.

“I’ll be leaving in 2016, and that will be my 20th year, so I think that’s a pretty good run,” Klimkiewicz said in a statement.

Klimkiewicz came to Nashoba Tech in 1996 when the school committee was working to take “this little technical school, which was the best-kept secret in the area, and turn it into a vibrant school that could make a significant contribution to quality education into the future.”

“And I think we did that,” Klimkiewicz added.
Current school committee chairwoman Jennifer Rhodes said Klimkiewicz was instrumental in the school’s “impressive comeback over the last 20 years.”

“Dr. Klimkiewicz’s vision for Nashoba Tech and vocational-technical education is evidenced in the impressive comeback of the school over the last 20 years,” Rhodes said. “She will be sorely missed, but the school is prepared to take on the next 20 years, thanks to her vision and dedication. We wish Dr. Klimkiewcz luck in her retirement
endeavors, but I know that her vision remains in her administration to continue moving Nashoba Tech forward in the years to come.”

Some of Dr. Klimkiewicz’s achievements during her nearly two decades as superintendent include:

• A $25 million project, from 2003 to 2005, that saw the complete renovation of the existing school and in-school restaurant, The Elegant Chef, and the addition of two new wings — a Science & Technology wing and a Performing Arts wing, complete with a state-of-the-art TV studio and 400-seat Performing Arts Center.
• The addition of several new and popular technical programs, including Cosmetology, Banking/Marketing/Retail, Dental Assisting, Early Childhood, Engineering Technology, TV & Media Production/Theatre Arts, Veterinary Assisting and Biotechnology, the last two of which were added for the current 2015-2016 school year.
• The creation of the first-of-its-kind Engineering Academy, a “school within a school” that brings the Engineering Technology, Electronics & Robotics and Biotechnology programs under one umbrella.
• Increasing enrollment from about 325 when she started to about 800 for the current school year.
• Achieving the second-highest bond rating obtainable with Moody’s Investors Service for two straight years (2014-2015 and 2015-2016).
• Instituting Music, Dance and Art classes.
• Renovating a barn on school property once used for storage into a Dance & Art Studio.
• Lighting upgrades throughout the building and several hundred solar panels on the roof.
• A $3 million renovation to the athletic fields, completed in 2014, that includes a turf football field and tennis courts.
• Upgrading a day-care center on school property into the Early Childhood Care Center, staffed by students and instructors in the Early Childhood program.
• Adding the town of Ayer to the district, joining Chelmsford, Groton, Littleton, Pepperell, Shirley, Townsend and Westford. For years, many students from Ayer attended Nashoba Tech though the town was not part of the district.

“It’s hard to say goodbye, but it’s time,” Klimkiewicz said.