Staff Members
Office of the Superintendent
Message from Superintendent Rebecca Tatistcheff
As I begin to learn both the role and OSSU, I continue to be awed by the deep and holistic commitment to community, young people, and families I experience each time I am here. I share that commitment and am excited to get to know the unique places that comprise OSSU and honor the many ways we already learn and grow together.
I began my career as an educator at St. Johnsbury Academy teaching mathematics. Vermont became a place I knew I wanted to return to; a place where people and communities sit in deep relationship to the land around them and each other. I have spent my career working locally and nationally (in urban and rural settings) to support schools, communities, and leaders as they work to create educational experiences that are responsive to place. In 2020, despite the pandemic, I returned to Vermont to be the principal of Cabot School. The pre-k to 12 model rooted in community learning experiences spoke to the possibilities of place. Most recently, I was the principal of U-32 Middle and High School, where student voice became a focus for building the kind of educational experiences young people could connect with.
I look forward to spending the summer months in the towns and communities we serve, getting to know you informally, and being ready to welcome our learners and families back in the fall.
Rebecca Tatistcheff, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Rebecca Tatistcheff is an educational leader with more than two decades of experience supporting innovative school design, instructional leadership, and community-centered learning. Her work has focused on creating educational experiences rooted in project-based, place-based, and student-centered approaches that honor the strengths, cultures, and aspirations of the communities schools serve.
She holds a doctorate in School Leadership and Change from Teachers College, Columbia University, with a concentration in rural and place-based education. Throughout her career, Rebecca has partnered with educators, school systems, and organizations across the country to support meaningful change while remaining grounded in the belief that the best educational opportunities emerge through connection—connections among communities, families, educators, young people and places.
In Vermont, Rebecca has served as principal of Cabot School, one of the state's few remaining Pre-K–12 schools, and most recently as principal of U-32 Middle and High School in the Washington Central Unified Union School District. She is excited to join OSSU and to work alongside students, families, educators, and community members to build on the district's strong traditions while imagining new possibilities for learning together.