By Ejay Lockwood

Peter Michelson is prepared to take the helm at Botelle.

In the search for a new Botelle School principal, the Norfolk Board of Education weighed numerous questions in evaluating candidates. Who can work well with school faculty? Who can lead the school through the next series of challenges? Who is a good listener? Perhaps most importantly, who has a genuine concern for helping children get the most out of their educational experience? The applicant who appeared to best embrace these qualities was Peter Michelson, a fifth and sixth grade teacher and a parent with young children in the Simsbury school system. Michelson earned a Bachelor degree in history in 1996 from Central Connecticut State University and Masters in education from Saint Joseph’s College in 2003. He recently completed his sixth year certificate in educational leadership at the University of Connecticut. His interest in teaching was kindled during his sophomore year of high school. He was doing well in math when his teacher took ill and went on medical leave. It was soon apparent that the substitute lacked the knowledge needed to lead the class, and young Michelson volunteered to help students needing extra assistance. It was then that he decided that he wanted to be a teacher. After high school he began working full time with his father to prepare to be an electrician and take over the family business. But he could never shake his interest in education, and headed back to school to obtain the necessary degrees. At the same time, he was named the math coordinator for the Simsbury school district. “To say that the next two years were busy would be an understatement,” he recalls. “I was now leading the math program for grades K-6 at five separate schools in addition to my studies.” Michelson credits his wife, Liz, with giving him the time to complete his two-year administrative program in May. “She spent the past two years managing a very busy household, driving our three sons (aged 12, nine and six) to all of the events that kids love while I had my nose in a textbook or worked at the computer — if I was home at all.” His arrival to take up his new post has coincided with work crews laboring to replace the school’s windows and install solar panels. With drilling and sawing in the background and a tarp covering his office window, Michelson optimistically reports, “The work is almost done and classrooms will be ready for the first day of school.”