NASHUA – Sitting in a black frame in Peggy Reynolds’ office at Nashua High School North is one of her favorite pictures.

She’s in the middle, with North’s first principal, R. Patrick Corbin, to the left and his administrative assistant to the right.

It was the first picture ever taken of the Nashua North faculty and staff, and it was only the three of them.

“We were setting the tone for 2,000 kids and more than 300 staff adults. We were setting a tone for their professional and educational careers,” Reynolds said. “No decision was casual.”

Reynolds, who has worked for the high school ever since, was one of three employees who staffed the school building during the 2001-02 school year, helping to make decisions as construction on the school building progressed.

It was the city’s first major school construction project in years, and it was something that Reynolds said the district needed to get right. The $70 million facility was designed to be student-centered, giving learners the best tools possible.

Ten years since the school first opened its doors to students, Reynolds said she thinks that mission is still present.

“There is always something we can continue to work on,” she said. “I think it’s something we’re not as conscious of now, because it’s become embedded in our practice. It’s so simple, but so powerful, to give students a voice in their own school.”

Nashua North is celebrating its 10th anniversary this school year, welcoming a new group of freshmen Tuesday as schools opened around the city for a new school year. In September, the high school will host an anniversary celebration, honoring many of the workers who helped with the building project.

But while longtime staff members say much about the school hasn’t changed in the last decade, the first day of school brought plenty of new features.

The most obvious change: administration.

Changes at the top

Instead of Principal David Ryan standing at the front entrance greeting students, it was interim Principal Marianne Busteed, who came to the position after five years as an assistant principal at Nashua South.

It was an exciting yet nerve-wracking day for the new principal, who hoped her Titan-blue suit would help show students her commitment to her new high school.

“I’m really just anxious to meet all the students,” she said. “I can’t wait to meet all of the staff.”

Busteed joined the high school last week, filling in after Ryan took a new job as assistant superintendent in Manchester. But while she has only been hired as the interim principal so far, Busteed said she’s preparing for the long haul.

On Tuesday, she spent the morning meeting with staff and talking with students at the school.

She greeted freshmen as they came in through the doors of the school, heading to the cafeteria to get their schedules for the coming school year. She also talked with older students, members of the high school’s volunteer group, the Blue Fish, about their own experiences at the school.

North has been welcoming so far, Busteed said, and is clearly a close-knit community.

Busteed is not the only new administrator at the high school this year. Wil Henderson has worked as a teacher and athletic administrator at the high school for years but is taking on a new role as assistant principal this school year.

Another assistant principal position is also filled by a new staff member, Gina Bergskaug, who formerly taught in Massachusetts and at Hollis Brookline High School.

But while the school may have some new faces, Reynolds said the changes shouldn’t have much of an effect on the school’s longtime goal: keeping students the center of the school environment.

Time of the Titans

From the moment the district broke ground on the Nashua North building in 2000, Reynolds said, every decision made was geared toward making the school the best place to learn and teach.

Everything from the color of the walls and flooring to the mascot and athletic uniforms, even the school bathrooms, were done with students in mind. And Reynolds was charged with making many of those decisions.

The district also worked hard to keep the community involved. An “architect in residence” program was established, sending project architects into Nashua High School, now Nashua South, to talk with faculty and staff to find out what they’d like to see in the new school.

When it came time to select a school mascot, a survey was sent out to future students, who overwhelmingly selected the Titan.

And as part of the school’s design, the student activities office and career center were placed in the main hallway, in hopes of getting as many students as possible involved in various activities and clubs.

Reynolds said the school has been run with input from students and staff ever since. It’s something she said makes Nashua North unique from many other high schools, but something that many students don’t realize is different about their school.

For the freshmen coming in to the high school this year, it’s especially challenging to think of a world without North.

“I remember my sister was part of the first class, I think,” said freshman Madison Russo.

“I think maybe my cousin went to high school before it was built,” said Ivy Hill, a fellow freshman.

Neither student, however, could remember a time when they didn’t know they’d be attending Nashua North. The school first opened when they, and most of their classmates, were in kindergarten, and has been a part of the city ever since.

But while they might not have a strong knowledge of the school’s history, the incoming students got a taste of the school’s priorities Tuesday morning.

A group of about 150 upperclassmen greeted the new students as they walked in, cheering them on with faculty on a walk from the cafeteria to the auditorium and helping them find their classes after a meeting with school administrators.

“I’m floored to see all these kids here on a day they don’t have to be here,” Busteed said. “That really says something about this school.”

It’s this atmosphere and community, Reynolds said, that will keep the high school growing, and keep its mission strong, well past its 10th anniversary.

“Few kids are going to graduate and remember what their textbooks looked like,” she said. “What they’re going to remember is, did they feel like they belonged in the school? It’s these relationships that really matter.”

Danielle Curtis can be reached
at 594-6557 or dcurtis@nashua
telegraph.com. Also, follow Curtis on Twitter (@Telegraph_DC).