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She was assistant principal for two years and principal for 12 years. A graduate of Roosevelt High School in Hyde Park in 1961, St. Germain taught in the Hyde Park School District for four years in the late '60s. She was fortunate enough to be able to take time off afterwards to raise her three daughters, twins Katherine and Alison, and daughter Christa (now a chiropractor in the Village of Millbrook).
While she stayed home, St. Germain got her master's degree in Education and Administration at the State University of New York at New Paltz. She also ran a nursery school and taught English as a second language at the YWCA in Poughkeepsie.
"When my youngest daughter started sixth grade I applied for a teaching position at St. Joseph's School in Millbrook," said St. Germain. "Then there was an opening in the Millbrook School District for an assistant principal for the elementary school."
St. Germain was assistant principal of the elementary school from August to November of 1989, when the president of the Board of Education asked her to move to the high school as assistant principal. She became the principal in 1991.
St. Germain is leaving for several reasons, not the least of which is to spend more time with her family.
"I have a couple of prospects on things," St. Germain said. "I would be interested in teaching at the college level and maybe learning a new musical instrument (she already plays piano), but personally I want to spend more time with my four grandchildren and three daughters, and not only on the weekend."
According to St. Germain, the most rewarding thing about teaching at Millbrook has been watching students grow and mature over the six years they spend in the Junior/Senior High School.
The hardest part of the job has been trying to separate the middle school students from the high school students, while trying to maintain the curriculum at six grade levels.
"One way or another I've been in school since I was five years old, she said. "I can't help it, I love school. I have absolutely loved every minute of it."
