MARION — When Sippican School Principal Evelyn Rivet retires in June her successor will either be an ORR administrator or a community outsider excited about moving into the community. 

Charles West, LICSW, CSA, and Marla Sirois spent the day at the school on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, to speak with parents, teachers, kids and administrators.

West currently serves as the Vice Principal at Rochester Memorial School, while Sirois is the principal at Taft Early Learning Center in Uxbridge.

The tri-town administrator has a background in social work, and has also served as a school adjustment counselor in the Old Rochester Regional District. He also has a private practice as a clinical therapist working with children, adolescents and families.

Sirois has worked in the same district for 25 years, and served as a curriculum and instruction leader, literacy coach and teacher of grades 1, 2 and 3 before moving into administration.

West has strong tri-town roots and actually attended Sippican School. Though Sirois does not, she expressed the desire to cut her current hour commute down and change things now that her daughters are grown or headed off to college.

“I want to come here and I want to live here,” Sirois said.

West said that he typically shares many of the duties of his job with Principal Derek Medieros.

He said he has never been a classroom teacher, however, “I have been in an educational environment and have a strong sense of teachers in class as a social worker and building administrator.”

Sirois was asked how prepared she was to deal with the older students at Sippican School, since her school teaches pre-Kindergarten to third grade students. She responded that as a literacy teacher she was used to working with students grades 1 to 5. She finds her younger students are harder to deal with.

She said older students will “sometimes break the rules, but they know right from wrong. Pre-Kindergarteners and Kindergarten students  don’t have that strong sense of right and wrong.” 

Superintendent Doug White will visit Sirois’ district before making a final decision.