Exeter Co-op School Board loses a leader: Helen Joyce steps down after 12 years

EXETER — Helen Joyce, a longtime member of the Exeter Region Cooperative School Board, has recently stepped down from her position.

Joyce, a Stratham representative on the board overseeing Cooperative Middle School and Exeter High School, said she and her husband, Kevin, are moving from their Stratham house to a smaller condo in Exeter.

“As a result, I have to resign from the board because as a Stratham resident now I will be an Exeter resident, and so I’m not allowed to serve on the board,” she said. “I had hoped to finish out my term until March, at which point, we knew I would not be running again.”

Vice Chair Bill Gouthier said Joyce will be missed. The board presented Joyce with a certificate of appreciation on Nov. 14 for her “many years of dedication to the students – first and foremost – staff and community of the Exeter Region Cooperative School District.”

“The best of times and the toughest of times, you have brought us through with such grace and being prepared and leading us and we cannot thank you enough,” Gouthier said.

Joyce called the decision to step down “bittersweet.”

“It’s time for me to pass the baton to someone who may have a child in the school system,” she said. “I’ve been privileged to watch my three grandchildren go through the school system. It’s time for other candidates to throw their hats in.”

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Joyce has been in education most of her life

Joyce has a long history in education. She started as a social studies teacher in Harlem, New York, after graduating from the City University of New York with a degree in history and education.

She moved to the North Country of New Hampshire in the late 1970s and continued teaching social studies to middle and high school students. She also obtained a master’s degree in educational administration from Plymouth State University.

Joyce became the assistant principal of Woodsville High School in Haverhill in 1988 and was honored as New Hampshire Assistant Principal of the Year in 1992-93.

When Joyce and her husband relocated to Stratham in 1996 to be closer to their daughter, she became the social studies chair at Sanborn Regional High School in Kingston. She retired in 2006.

Joyce decided to run for the School Board in 2012 after being encouraged by Mike Morgan, the former superintendent of SAU 16. The rest was history, she added.

“I gave it some thought, and I decided to give it a try,” she recalled. “I thought, ‘Well, maybe I’ll run for one term.’ As time progressed, I continued and wound up with almost 12 years and I really for the most part enjoyed it very much.”

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Joyce on triumphs and challenges on Exeter board

Joyce’s tenure on the Exeter Region Cooperative School Board began in 2012. In 2014, she was appointed chair of the board, a position she held until her recent departure.

During those years, Joyce said the board’s “greatest accomplishment” includes the “sorely needed” $17.8 million Cooperative Middle School expansion, which received some pushback but eventually was passed by voters and completed in 2021.

Another accomplishment Joyce is proud of is the launch of the MTSS (multi-tiered support system) within the SAU 16 school system post-COVID-19. The program, she explained, “addresses students’ individual needs… providing help for kids who may have lost some ground during the pandemic academically.”

But with every accomplishment, there were also challenges.

One particular “difficult” moment for Joyce was the sudden death of her friend and former SAU 16 superintendent Mike Morgan in 2017. Six months later, Morgan’s associate superintendent, Paul Flynn, died unexpectedly as well, she added.

“It was very difficult for the entire SAU 16 to lose those two amazing leaders in our school system,” she said. “We had to really pull everybody together to make things work until we were able to find a permanent superintendent.”

The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the biggest challenges that Joyce faced during her tenure. The board had to make some “difficult decisions” from instituting remote learning to developing a plan to return to the classroom with temporary mask mandates. Joyce said their decisions were guided by “the best interest of the students, the parents, and the faculty of the school.”

“Not everybody agreed with our decisions, and we respected that,” she said. “But the feedback that we received during COVID and since COVID has been tremendous.”

For Joyce, the camaraderie and respect kept her going for the past decade.

“Working with so many wonderful people over the last 12 years … made a huge difference for me,” she said. “We may not have always agreed on everything, but, for the most part, we did have a good solid cooperative spirit, and we always respected one another.”

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Joyce ready for new chapter in life

Joyce said in her absence, the Stratham Select Board will appoint a temporary replacement to serve on the board until the March election. Interested residents should submit an application by Friday, Nov. 30, to the town's Executive Assistant Karen Richard at krichard@strathamnh.gov. The Select Board intends to make an appointment at its Dec. 4 meeting.

Joyce said she is looking forward to “catching her breath” and “getting back into a normal routine.” She plans to use her new free time to continue volunteering at Exeter Hospital.

However, she said her door is always open for new members on the board to ask questions and guidance.

“I’m leaving the board in good leadership hands,” she said. “But I also want to emphasize that this is not a one-man show… this is a team effort. I’m sad to go, but I’m also – at this point in time – ready to move on to a new chapter in my life.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Exeter Region Cooperative School Board Chair Helen Joyce resigns