Garrett Lavallee’s deep, friendly voice rumbles throughout the halls at Spaulding Academy every weekday morning as he greets each student and staff member by name. He feared that he would lose his close connection with the children who come to Spaulding when he was promoted to principal and director of special education in 2022. Instead, the bonds remain tight as Garrett intentionally engages individually with students – as much for his own sake as for theirs. “The kids fill my bucket. They are the most resilient, inspiring people you will meet. When I’m having a tough day, the kids ground me and remind me why I’m here,” he said.
A commitment to Spaulding is in Garrett’s DNA. His parents met as staff members at Spaulding and his father worked here for 44 years. Garrett explains that he “grew up in a home where you didn’t see disabilities – you saw potential.” Experiences gained through his parents’ work and their commitment to helping children inspired Garrett to want to be a teacher. “I knew my whole life that I wanted to work at Spaulding,” he recalls. In 1999, Garrett worked as a member of the residential team at Spaulding while an undergraduate student at Colby-Sawyer College. Since then, he served as a paraeducator, special education teacher, special education coordinator and assistant director of special education before his current position as principal and director of special education. His entire career has been spent at Spaulding, fulfilling his childhood dream.
While Garrett says that there is no such thing as a “typical” day for him at Spaulding, every action he takes is “predicated on the notion that children and staff need to have felt and psychological safety to flourish.” The now international Choose Love movement that Garrett helped pioneer at Spaulding grew out of his commitment to creating the feeling of safety that is essential for both children and staff to do their best work. He explains that “our greatest achievement since I became principal is creating a safe and nurturing environment that fosters advocacy, collaboration, gratitude and community. Our school is full of laughter, smiles and love, which has resulted in a decrease in physical interventions and an increase in academic performance. You can’t put a number on the atmosphere, but you can feel it.”
The Choose Love Movement broadly focuses on emphasizing open discussions, celebrating successes and thoughtful responses to challenges in day-to-day life using the Choose Love Formula. Garrett connected with the Choose Love Founder Scarlett Lewis at a conference in 2022. He left that meeting knowing that this initiative could change lives. He led efforts to make Spaulding Academy the first nationally certified Choose Love school in 2024.
For his vision and leadership, Garrett has been honored with several awards, most recently as Emerging Leader of Special Education for Private Providers from the NH Association of Special Education Administrators. But he is quick to say that the real credit goes to the Spaulding staff, which he calls the “magic” at Spaulding Academy. “Our staff is the best and the reason the school is so successful,” he said. “Their well-being, their mental health, their felt safety is my priority. I need to take care of them so they can take care of our kids.”
Garrett spends countless hours collaborating with teachers, specialists, service providers and staff in other departments to ensure the highest level of support for Spaulding students. He is often on the go and deeply appreciates his wife, Jaclyn, who is a certified preschool special education teacher. Calling her his “rock,” Garrett says Jaclyn makes it possible to meet the demands of being a principal while raising two young children of their own. In a wonderful reflection of the way his own parents met, Garrett and Jaclyn got to know each other at Spaulding when Jaclyn was student teaching. If history continues to repeat itself, Garrett’s commitment to Spaulding will carry on years down the road in the newest generation of Lavallees.
