“Our future depends on these kids,” Joanne Pelletier, principal of Winman Junior High School, said in a recent interview. “If for any reason we don’t get a student where they need to be or provide for them the education they deserve, we will pay the price one way or another.”

For Pelletier, junior high can be the most “crucial” time in a student’s life and therefore it is “critical” to ensure students receive the attention they need not only academically, but also emotionally and socially.

“This is an awkward age, where a child could go either way. If they do begin to veer off, we can still bring them back,” Pelletier said.

As principal, Pelletier says the focus in Winman needs to be empathy and how to make good choices.

Pelletier grew up in New York and started her career in education as an assistant teacher in a resource room. She loved the classroom so much she decided to go back to school to become a teacher. Her spouse was transferred to Rhode Island during her education and she finished out her degree in secondary education with an emphasis on science at the University of Rhode Island. She also received her masters in education at URI and earned her Administration Certificate from Providence College.

Pelletier taught for a while in North Kingstown and moved here in 1996, where she taught science and was a department head at Winman for 10 years.

Through a “comedy of errors” Pelletier was asked to serve as assistant principal of Winman when her predecessor resigned two days before the first day of school. She would go on to become the principal of Gorton Junior High School for two years before asking to be transferred back to Winman after the principal retired in 2011.

“I love Winman. I spent so many years here. I was happy to come back,” Pelletier said. “The faculty and staff are amazing. I feel as if I grew up with them; I’ve worked and learned with them.”

Now Pelletier is hoping she can finish out her career at Winman. “Pushing 60,” she can see retirement in her future but knows she isn’t quite ready for that yet.

In returning, knowing most of the faculty and staff from her time teaching and as assistant principal, Pelletier hopes she brought a sense of “trust and collegiality” to Winman.

Pelletier knows “happy teachers makes happy students” and she has tried to give them a voice in the school where they may not have had one previously. Similarly, the teachers share similar philosophies as Pelletier and know she wouldn’t bring something to the school that wasn’t in the best interest of the students.

Pelletier said, “Together we are trying to make the world a better place one student at a time.”

In the next few years Winman will experience a lot of changes with school consolidation, as the sixth grade is transitioned to the middle school. Currently the school has just under 500 students and within the next two years, that is expected to increase to nearly 800, closer to the school’s population when Pelletier first began teaching at Winman.

Pelletier is excited to see more students coming into the school because many of the paths of curriculum standards are created for grades 6-8 and now some sixth graders are coming to Winman with “very little” of concentrated subjects such as science.

With consolidation, Pelletier hopes there will be enough funds to finally go one to one with Chromebooks and to start sports at the middle school level.

“There are a lot of sports in Warwick, but not every family can afford them and not every student has a parent that can drop and pick them up from it,” Pelletier said. “This would be a way to keep students active and invested in school.”

As principal, Pelletier believes it is her responsibility to “set the tone” for not just teachers, but also students. Middle school students are still “moldable” and having a positive role model that presents what is and isn’t acceptable can make a big difference.

At middle school age, students can still be “goofy” and have a love of learning, but Pelletier admitted it is also a time when students can be mean to one another, and as principal she stresses empathy for others. She encourages students to be their best selves while accentuating the positive.

“Not all students are raised the same, and some students will be needier than others,” Pelletier said. “This is the age where students become aware of what they do and don’t have and what others may or may not have. That can lead to anger in some students and help others to step up.”

In Winman the focus is on making good choices but understanding people, students, teachers and administrators alike can all make mistakes. Although those are still reprimanded for wrongdoing, Pelletier says “no grudges are held” and once a punishment is complete, it is a “new day” where students can make better choices.

“The world is a tough place. I want to make Winman a safe zone,” Pelletier said. “If there can’t be peace on Earth, let there be peace in this school.”