School District Taps New High School Principal

A Rochester assistant principal has been tapped as Principal Tom Murphy's replacement at Windham High School.

Ryan Kaplan, 33, has worked at Spaulding High School for the last four years.

Kaplan, who grew up in central New Jersey, was named the head administrator at WHS by a unanimous Windham School Board vote Wednesday.

"It's been a pretty surreal process so far," said Kaplan, who acknowledged that he has big shoes to fill by replacing Murphy, who was named New Hampshire Principal of the Year in January.

Kaplan said he wants to make the leadership transition "seamless" for Windham students.

"I want to make sure that their learning continues to move forward without any pause (and) I want to make sure that I work hard before school starts next year."

Kaplan first came to the state when as a student he transferred to the University of New Hampshire from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA.

At UNH he received an undergraduate degree in history before coming back for graduate school, where he finished in 2005 with a Master's degree in teaching.

Kaplan still lives in Durham. Since obtaining his Masters, he spent four years as a social studies teacher at Coe-Brown Northwood Academy before moving to his administrative position in Rochester.

He noted the differences between Spaulding High School and Windham's brand new facility.

"I'm at a school currently that was built in 1939, and I'm going to a school that was built four or five years ago," said Kaplan. "But it's the quality of instruction that I've seen. Looking at Windham's test scores, they have made huge leaps in the last two years.

Kaplan placed facilities as secondary to great teachers, great instruction, great learning and engaged students.

He acknowledged his youth and how it came up while he was vetted for his new role.

"I'm young, there's no question about it. I would say what has been great about the search process is that (Windham is) looking for candidates that have the best potential for success at Windham High School."

Kaplan said he is committed to Windham, and will be for the foreseeable future.

Murphy will leave Windham July 1 to take a principal job at Billerica Memorial High School in Billerica, Mass. The school serves as his alma mater and former employer.

The announcement came in March, and since that time the school district has engaged in the process of vetting candidates to replace him.

The school district received over 25 applications for the job, and a search committee of 15 people helped narrow down that field. The committee was made up of a mixture of parents, students and leadership staff.

Candidates were interviewed in late April followed by building tours.

Kaplan is the the third principal in WHS history, joining both Murphy and Richard Manley.

A contract for Kaplan is still being finalized. He will be introduced to the community during next week's School Board meeting.