Eris Hersey

Idlehurst Elementary School
Somersworth School District
Somersworth, New Hampshire
ehersey@sau56.org

For the past five years, Eris Hersey has served as principal of Idlehurst Elementary. Building on years of classroom experience, Hersey takes great pride in connecting the dots between parents, teachers, and students. Central to her philosophy is the idea that student achievement is not measured just academically but also socially and emotionally. As an administrator, she prioritizes making the school feel like a second home for all who enter its doors. Hersey has invested time and energy into educating both herself and her staff about the relationship between poverty, education, and access. Noting issues with performance and parent-teacher relations, Hersey wrote a school improvement grant and was awarded over $300,000, which she invested in a robust professional development and growth program. Thanks to her superb leadership pedagogy and holistic approach to education, there was a 20 percent increase in student involvement, with parent-teacher conference attendance at 86 percent. Under her steady leadership, Idlehurst Elementary has improved drastically in state testing and has been removed from New Hampshire’s priority school list. Hersey has received a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in Educational Leadership and a master’s degree in K-12 Literacy from University of New England, Maine, in addition to two bachelor’s degrees from Keene State College.