Primrose Hill School will start the new year with an interim principal.

Pat Tolento announced earlier this month that she was resigning from her position as Primrose Hill School principal. Tolento is staying in the district, however. She has applied to work as a special education teacher at Barrington High School. 

The news of her resignation came as a surprise to Barrington Superintendent of Schools Michael Messore.

“It came out of nowhere,” Messore said during an interview last week. (The district just recently hired a new principal at Barrington High School.)

Messore said Tolento told him she wanted to return to working more closely with students. She started her career as a teacher, and initially worked in special education.

“She said she missed the joy of working with students,” Messore said. “That’s why we all got in the business. That’s why we all started.”

Messore said the pandemic may have played a role in the job change for Tolento.

“With the last two years that have gone by, people have done a lot of reflection,” he said. 

Messore said Tolento did a wonderful job leading Primrose Hill School over the years. 

“She’s been a great leader,” Messore said. “She’s a very strong advocate for students.”

Messore said Coleen Smith, who was hired to serve as an assistant principal at Hampden Meadows School, will work as an interim principal at Primrose Hill School. He said the district will start a search process for the next full-time Primrose Hill School principal soon. 

Work in the district

Barrington High School will be Pat Tolento’s third stop in the district.

Tolento has been working in Barrington schools since 2010. Prior to being named principal at Primrose Hill School (she replaced Paula Montesi), Tolento served as head teacher and math curriculum leader at Hampden Meadows School.   

Prior to that, Tolento worked as a special education teacher at the Center For Arts & Technology, a high school in Phoenixville, Pa. She also taught in public schools in Downingtown, Pa., and at Delaware Valley Regional High School in Frenchtown, N.J.