CORNWALL — Nadya Bech-Conger has always been interested in languages.

She grew up speaking Norwegian (her mom is Norwegian), gained fluency in Spanish and flirted with French, on her way to successful studies at Middlebury College (class of 1997).

“It was really about understanding people’s experiences and the closeness that I got in understanding the language,” Bech-Conger said of her affinity for linguistics.

And while she’s unlikely to need her Norwegian language skills in these parts, Bech-Conger has already conversed in Spanish with some of the families of students she’ll be serving in her new role as principal of Cornwall’s Bingham Memorial School.

“For me, language has always been a way to connect with people more authentically,” she said.

And communication will be among Bech-Conger’s top priorities during her first several months helming the Bingham School, whose halls will soon ring again with the voices of around 85 students in grades K-5. It’s one of seven elementary schools — along with Middlebury Union middle and high schools — that make up the Addison Central School District.

It was during her college years that Bech-Conger developed an interest in becoming an educator. Unfortunately, Middlebury during her four years didn’t offer an education minor, so she focused on history, Spanish and French. Bech-Conger did, however, gained a little experience doing a pre-practicum in an MUHS Spanish class.

She went on to earn Master of Arts in Teaching from Brown University, which led to 25 years of teaching and educational leadership experience in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Vermont. Her varied resume includes stints as a dean of students, high school Spanish teacher, 7th-grade math instructor and, most recently, as the Burlington School District’s associate director of teaching and learning.

Bech-Conger moved back to Addison County two years ago with her family, which includes her husband, Alberto Citarella, and two high school-age children.

“(Moving to Middlebury) is not where I thought our life path would take us, but it did,” she said. “This was the right fit for our family.

“I used to run and roller-ski these roads in Cornwall as a student,” added Bech-Conger, who was an avid Nordic skier during her college years. “I actually feel I know the roads in Cornwall better than I know some of the backroads in Middlebury.”

Little did she know at the time that she’d one day be leading the school off Route 30 that she routinely skied past as a student.

After working with school populations measuring in the hundreds, Bech-Conger was ready for a learning environment where students were counted by the dozens.

“I grew up in a small farming town myself, so there was a familiarity there,” she said of the Bingham School’s demographic profile. “I was really looking for the right chemistry, and I felt there was really good chemistry with me and the Cornwall community. The skills that I bring seem to be some of the skills they’re looking for, and there’s real opportunity for me to grow. I felt like this was a place where I could do that growing, and also be useful to this community.”

She believes her varied roles in education will be an asset to the Bingham School community.

“I feel I have that multiplicity of perspectives where I can see things in a school building from multiple angles at the same time,” she said. “Perhaps my most important skills are in relationship and community building.”

Bech-Conger has never forgotten advice that a mentor imparted to her early in her career: Clarify why we are doing what we’re doing the way we’re doing it?

Being able to answer that question when it comes to school goals fosters a climate where “everyone can row in the same direction, which helps all of us — teachers, students and staff — do our best work,” Bech-Conger said.

Fostering teamwork among Bingham School’s many stakeholders and “building strong, trusting relationships with students staff and families” are her top priorities for year one of her tenure.

Bech-Conger succeeds former Bingham School Principal Heather Raabe, who stepped down this past spring after a five-year stint. Bech-Conger’s pleased with the school she’s inherited from her predecessor.

“I think there’s a very skilled staff here with a range of experiences, which I appreciate,” she said. “I love having some veteran folks, some new folks and some folks who moved here from elsewhere… And I think we have an incredibly engaged family community that’s really supportive of the school, and those are huge assets.”

Though she’s only been on board for five weeks in a school that’s in summer hibernation, Bech-Conger is feeling good about where things are headed. A group of local parents recently helped her spruce up the school grounds, which included planting flowers.

“I’m seeing and feeling the support, and feeling really good about that,” she said.

Reporter John Flowers is at [email protected].