Peggy McLenithan
Learning Specialist
Contact: pmclenithan@vsnb.org
Peggy McLenithan is a Learning Specialist at the Village School of North Bennington. Prior to this time, Dr. McLenithan’s most recent positions in education included working as a School Wide Interventionist at Fair Haven Grade School in Fair Haven, Vermont, and, previously, creating and overseeing Students Uniting Cultures for College Success and Self (SUCCESS) program at Hoosac School in Hoosick, New York. Additionally, Dr. McLenithan has worked for schools within the Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union and the Arlington school districts.
Her educational journey has been a long and winding road. Dr. McLenithan earned her bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts/Management in 1998. Shortly thereafter, she attended the College of St. Joseph in Rutland, VT, and earned her post-baccalaureate certificate teaching grades 7-12 English. She continued with her education at Castleton State College and added “Special Educator Endorsement” to her licensure. In 2010, she graduated with her master’s degree in Education and a concentration in Curriculum and Instruction. She returned to college and graduated from Simmons College in 2014, with a Specialist in Education Degree. She is a certified Wilson Instructor and Wilson Dyslexia Practitioner, and she holds a Level 2 Vermont Special Educator license with a K-12 endorsement.
Dr. McLenithan earned her doctorate from BayPath University, where she graduated from the EdD in Educational Leadership Program in 2025. She presented her dissertation on the subject of “Improving Professional Development Practices to Foster Fluidity of Teacher Engagement in Research Based Instructional Practices: The Weaving of Art and Science.” Her dissertation involves transitioning the Village School into a highly adaptive and innovative organization by leveraging personal and organizational strengths to create meaningful and enduring change. She used Transformational Leadership Theory (TLT) as the framework for her action based research. In TLT there is an emphasis on the affective and charismatic elements of leadership which underscores the importance of intrinsic motivation and follower development.
Her role at the Village School focuses on providing explicit and specialized literacy services to learners in grades K-6. This year the Village School will be using The Writing Revolution by Judith Hochman and Natalie Wexler.
There are 6 key principles:
• Students need explicit instruction in writing, beginning in the early elementary grades.
• Sentences are the building blocks of all writing.
• When embedded in the content of the curriculum, writing instruction is a powerful teaching tool.
• The content of the curriculum drives the rigor of the writing activities.
• Grammar is best taught in the context of student writing.
• The two most important phases of the writing process are planning and revising.
Mrs. McLenithan and her husband are parents to three adult daughters and four grandchildren. They live in Cambridge, NY, on Happy Kids Farm. Did you know baby goats are called “kids”? They have Nigerian goats, Boer goats, chickens, and llamas.
