I’ve known Michael Ruppel (PIP ’18), Principal of Vermont’s Otter Valley Union Middle and High School, for many years – yet I can’t precisely recall where we first met!  Perhaps it was at a Rowland Foundation educator conference; perhaps it was when I was a guest at a UVEI seminar; maybe it was when Michael came for a site-visit at the school where I was principal.  I’m not sure – but what I know for certain is that I met Michael when he was engaged in learning, pushing himself as an educator to connect with and learn with others.  

This learning-as-leader disposition is one of many traits that contributed to Michael’s being honored with the Vermont Principals Association’s “High School Principal of the Year” award for 2025-26.  When I learned of the award, I quickly sent Michael an email to say congratulations and ask if I could interview him and share his reflections with the UVEI network more broadly. 

Our Conversation About School Leadership 

“These people have helped me with the interpersonal and human dimensions of leadership, which is where my growth has been.”

Elijah: What thoughts and feelings do you have about receiving this award?

Michael: I felt a lot of gratitude when the VPA called, in two directions.  I felt gratitude for the people I’ve worked with over the years.  At Otter Valley, our team is really amazing, doing hard work, improving outcomes.  And, looking back, I have an awareness that people have been so generous in sharing their time and resources in mentoring me, including Page and you at UVEI, my former superintendent, Zach McLaughlin in Springfield, Michael Martin and Chuck Scranton at the Rowland Foundation, and others.  These people have helped me with the interpersonal and human dimensions of leadership, which is where my growth has been.  I don’t think my views on what students need to be served well by schools have changed a lot over the years, but I’ve changed in how I’ve learned to sit with people, be present, listen – to teachers, to parents, and to show empathy and care every single time.  

“…the work is never done… continuous improvement is always possible.”

Elijah: In your interview with the Herald/Argus you noted, “Nobody does this work in education because they want accolades, but it does feel good when people acknowledge the hard work.”  What aspects of this work feel like hard work – and what motivates you to keep doing the hard work?

Michael:  An educator named John Tanner writes about 31 positive benefits schools provide to communities, including workforce preparation, childcare, academic readiness, and support for our democracy.  These benefits are real, and important! As a public school in Vermont we’re trying to do all of those things for our community’s kids.  But we don’t always have the resources one might need to fully realize these benefits.  So sometimes we have to prioritize between competing goods or benefits.  That feels really hard!

Elijah: Why keep doing the hard work? What motivates you?

Michael: I get to walk into a school every day.  I like kids.  I like teachers.  Teaching is work that matters.  We have the opportunity to help kids get a good job or further their education, and that can help people move out of poverty. Schools are not the only anti-poverty program, or always very effective, but it matters.  And it’s also motivating to step back and realize that the work is never done, that continuous improvement is always possible.  There’s no stable state.  I’ve stopped thinking in terms like, “Have we implemented this – and is it done?”  It’s not about the thing being done, as Page would say, and it’s more about asking “How are we doing as we make ongoing improvements?”  This is a motivator for ongoing collaboration and problem solving.

“I go back to [UVEI] ideas to figure out how to work on something in a disciplined, collaborative school improvement process.”

Elijah: Can you say more about how the work you’ve done with UVEI has stuck with you in your career?

Michael: I often hear people talk about school change in ways that are counter to what I learned at UVEI.  A lot of people talk about this or that “initiative” or this or that new “thing” and becoming this or that brand of school.  This is a common paradigm for thinking about school change.  I ask myself why that doesn’t resonate with me and I go back to my training at UVEI.  I go back to the “How Schools Improve” framework, the various levers for improvement.  I go back to these ideas to figure out how to work on something in a disciplined, collaborative school improvement process.  

Elijah: Can you give examples of what this collaborative improvement is like at your school?

Michael: I think about our meeting structures and how I run and encourage others to run meetings.  I want them to be inquiry driven, to focus on instructional practices or data and what we can learn from it. It’s really important how we facilitate our meetings, what we focus on, who meets, and why.  If this work of meetings and collaboration is purposeful and done carefully there’s so much we can achieve.

Photo: Michael (standing, 3rd from right) with the 2018 UVEI Principal Cohort during their orientation week in August 2017.

We’re Here to Support You!

At the end of our conversation, I asked Michael how UVEI could continue to support new and current school leaders in our region.  Still a leader who is a learner he said that – while it’s difficult to step away from work at his school – the more opportunities to join other alumni in the UVEI network, the better.  There’s so much that can be achieved and learned when we are operating from common and well-proven frameworks for how schools improve.  On that note, readers are invited to let us know if you’d like to connect to Michael, other UVEI alumni, or current candidates.  We’ll be happy to get you plugged into one of our dialogue sessions, community nights or forums, professional development inquiry cycles, or school partnerships. We’d love to hear from you and help our network stay connected!  

Find out more about the lives of UVEI alumni at https://uvei.edu/topics/alumni/.

Elijah Hawkes is the Director of School Leadership Programs at UVEI, and is a former principal of Randolph Union High School & Middle School in Randolph, VT.