The Londonderry School District is pleased to announce the appointment of Abbey Sloper as the next principal of Matthew Thornton School. Sloper participated with other candidates in a series of interviews with the Matthew Thornton Search Committee, a meet and greet with the PTA and community members, a day of instruction in classrooms with students and teachers, and interviews with the Administrative Council and the MT administrative team. On February 13th, the School Board voted unanimously in a non-public session to support Sloper’s nomination, where she will begin in her new role on July 1st. She has been a member of the school district’s administrative team for the past ten years and is currently an Assistant Principal at Londonderry Middle School. The nine years before that she worked as an Assistant Principal at Londonderry High School. In both positions she provided educational leadership for students and staff, with an emphasis on academic growth centered on curriculum, instruction, and assessment.
Abbey Sloper is quite familiar with Matthew Thornton School, as her son Jack attended there as an elementary student, and where she participated as a PTA member. Sloper and her family have been invested in Londonderry and the school system for over a decade, where she made a concerted effort within the school community to promote student achievement, collaborate with staff and families, and create successful pathways for students exiting and entering different levels of schooling. As a community member she serves as a volunteer coach for Londonderry Youth Athletics, and she participates in many town events. Superintendent Dan Black notes of the hire, “Abbey has been a strong leader in our district for a long time and I am excited about her upcoming tenure at Matthew Thornton. She cares deeply about all the students and staff she works with and will bring that passion to Matthew Thornton.”
Sloper’s administrative career has been spent handling the day-to-day operations of the school building and she’s been a long-time co-chair of the district’s Emergency Operations Preparedness Committee. She contributed to WMUR’s Project CommUNITY panel discussion on bullying and cyberbullying and offered solutions in effectively addressing it. She understands the value of social emotional learning in schools, the various academic and social issues that may impact learning, and she creates plans in collaboration with families and teachers to maximize each student’s potential. Sloper is an expert in Competency-based Learning, and is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Educational Leadership. Upon receiving the news that she will now bring her talents and skills to Matthew Thornton, Sloper says, “It is with extreme excitement that I welcome this opportunity to further collaborate with North and South elementary schools as well as our pre-K/Kindergarten school, Moose Hill to ready our learners to meet the challenges and expectations of Londonderry Middle School to ultimately prepare them for a path of lifelong learning and success. This can’t be accomplished without the valuable and consistent effort of the Matthew Thornton staff in conjunction with the support of the MT families.”
Current MT Principal Amity Small, who will be transitioning to the District Office to serve as the next Business Administrator, informed her staff, “I’ve known Abbey for ten years, and I worked alongside her on the LHS Admin team. Abbey has a stellar work ethic, a great sense of humor, and she is smart. She will jump in to learn about elementary land and staff needs.” Sloper joins an administrative team that includes Special Education Program Director, Lisa Frenette, and Assistant Principal, Scott Sicard who also spoke to the transition stating, “After many years, Amity Small leaves Matthew Thornton in a better place than when she arrived. Lisa Frenette and I are excited to welcome our next principal, Abbey Sloper, to our school and look forward to spending time with her this spring to start making the transition to a new leadership team. Together, the three of us will help guide Matthew Thornton students, teachers, and staff into the next chapter of the long-standing history of the school. We are looking forward to this next adventure and the addition of Abbey Sloper.”