Scott Blood

Blue Mountain Union School
Orange East Supervisory Union
Wells River, Vermont
scott.blood@oesu.org

In his decade-long career as a lead principal, Scott Blood has made leading with a positive influence his top priority. By empowering programmatic autonomy and independent instructional decision-making, Blood has been particularly impactful in transforming Blue Mountain Union’s (BMU’s) approach to equity and literacy instruction in his seven years of leadership. In 2022, after several years struggling to close the literacy gap with the school’s existing curriculum, Blood knew it was time for a change. After collecting insights from teachers, Blood spearheaded the adoption of Direct Instruction as BMU’s primary literacy program, leading to an overall increase in K-6 grade-level reading proficiency from 38 percent to 64 percent in three years, with positive spillover effects in math thanks to enhanced reading comprehension. Blood has also launched an impressive variety of funded equity initiatives aimed at closing the achievement gap for the school’s rural student population, including increasing access to early childhood education by expanding to full-day preschool, removing financial barriers to musical learning, supporting the creation of an enriching after-school program to support working parents, and building a sustainable clothing exchange to support families in need. Other initiatives have eased transportation challenges at the school, increased attention to students’ social-emotional well-being, and expanded mentorship and support for paraprofessionals who are too often neglected in professional development. Blood holds an M.Ed. from Southern New Hampshire University and a B.S. in Education from the University of Vermont.