By Abbe Smith, Register Staff
asmith@newhavenregister.com

WEST HAVEN — When students at Washington Elementary School behave during lunch, they sometimes get a special treat: a dance with Principal Timothy Van Winkle.

“We have music in the cafe(teria). If the kids are good, we cha-cha slide. We dance,” he says.

So, naturally, when the kids heard about Van Winkle’s impending retirement this summer, some had an important question for him.

“They said, ‘Who’s going to dance with us?’” Van Winkle says with a laugh.

The veteran principal by day, ballroom dance instructor by night, is gearing up for an emotional goodbye to the elementary school where he has spent the last 14 years as principal. Van Winkle announced his retirement this spring, capping off a 36-year career with the school district.

“It was very, very difficult to make this decision,” he said. “Fourteen years in one building becomes a long time. Everyone becomes your family.”

Van Winkle got his first job in the district as a teacher at Forest School in 1974. Ten years later, he was named language arts coordinator for the district. In 1994, he was tapped to head Stiles School, and two years later transferred to his current post at Washington School.

Van Winkle takes nothing for granted. He credits a difficult childhood for helping him understand the plight of children who have a difficult time in school. In fact, he was in their shoes at one time.

Van Winkle grew up in a poor, unstable household, living with different relatives and getting bused across town to school. He says he wasn’t the best student and missed school often because of the difficult time he was having at home. He might have remained a lost soul if not for some key mentors.

“I hated school. They told me I wasn’t smart enough. You begin to believe it,” he says. Continued...

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When Van Winkle was 9 years old, he accepted a cousin’s invitation to go to Williams Ballroom in West Haven. There he met Gloria and Ed Williams, two dance instructors who would become important mentors in Van Winkle’s life. He also fell in love with ballroom dance, a passion he has nurtured ever since. Van Winkle became a competitive dancer in high school and won $500 in a dance contest his senior year. The money helped pay for college, a place Van Winkle never figured into his future. Until he found mentors to encourage him at school and at home, Van Winkle didn’t think much about his future at all.

So when a supportive guidance counselor pushed Van Winkle to think about college and to pick a career path, Van Winkle knew what he wanted to do.

“I said I wanted to be a teacher so that I could understand kids like me. Nobody understood me,” he said. “It was important for me to give back. I let kids know I believe in them.”

Van Winkle also tries to intervene when a student misses too much school or has a significant behavioral problem. Along with the school nurse and social worker, Van Winkle makes home visits to students having truancy issues.

“I can’t help the child if we don’t work together between the school and the home,” he said.

Maria Stevens, a longtime special education teacher at Washington School, said she tries not to think about the day when Van Winkle steps down.

“I think it is a tremendous loss to this school system,” she said.

Stevens describes Van Winkle as a leader and a teacher who always acts in the best interest of the individual child.

Superintendent of Schools Neil Cavallaro praised Van Winkle for creating what he considers one of the “most positive climates in the school district.”

“He makes kids, parents and teachers feel good about coming to school and coming to work every day,” he said. Continued...

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Contact Abbe Smith at 203-789-5615.

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