This from David Fleishman…
Dear Newton North Families,
I am writing to announce the finalists for the principal position at Newton North. The process is moving forward in a timely manner, and we are hopeful that North will have a new principal within the next couple of weeks.
In recent weeks, the Selection Advisory Committee, consisting of teachers, parents, students and administrators, worked thoroughly to review resumes, interview candidates and select semi-finalists. Earlier this week, each of the semi-finalists visited classrooms at Newton South, where they were asked to share their observations and reflections on a range of educational and leadership issues and scenarios.
We have two finalists who are scheduled to visit Newton North on Wednesday and Thursday of next week. The finalists will be at North for a very long day and will have the opportunity to meet with faculty, students, administrators and parents.
The finalists are:
Wednesday, March 18
Geoffrey Walker is the principal at the William Barton Rogers Middle School in Boston. Previously he was an assistant principal at the Timilty Middle School and academic director at Madison Park High School, both in Boston. Geoff was a teacher at both Boston English High School and the McKay School in Boston. A graduate of Brown University, Geoff has a masters degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Thursday, March 19
William Klements is currently assistant principal at Sharon High School. Previously he was an English teacher at Norwood High School. Bill began his career as a research associate on a project funded by the National Science Foundation. A graduate of Providence College, Bill has masters degrees from Boston College and Endicott College.
You are invited to join the candidates on both days from 5:15-6:00 p.m. The candidates will speak briefly followed by a time for questions. We welcome your feedback as we come to the conclusion of this very important decision-making process for Newton North. I will keep you informed as we proceed.
Sincerely,
David Fleishman
Superintendent of Schools
Were there any candidates from within the Newton Schools that applied for the position?
Colleen, Geoffrey Walker may be a NNHS graduate, Class of 1996.
Our Plagiarist Superintendent just hires from outside the school system. There were EXCELLENT Candidates that should have applied but they probably knew they would not be considered since he prefers to hire from outside Newton.
@Joanne: The candidates were selected by a search committee.
No doctoral training? No prior experience as a high school principal?
On paper, it looks pretty underwhelming.
@ Greg- I know they were selected by the Search Committee. The Search Committee can only chose among the applications that are submitted. And when it is a pretty well known fact that the Superintendent ONLY hires from OUTSIDE of Newton then – “No Newton Public School Employees Need Apply.”
Paul – Yes – you are correct – No Doctorate. I guess we are going backwards rather than Forward.
@Joanne: Let’s face it David Fleishman could arrange for it to be sunny and 60 degrees all next week and you still would find fault with it.
Have a great weekend!
Same to You Greg!!
And while you are out enjoying the Sunny 60 Degree Weekend – Try to recall when the last time was that the NPS hired a Principal from within the Newton Ranks. Or even when one of those ” Newton “candidates made it to be a finalist??
Joanne – I have never heard a Newton employee say that they weren’t going to apply for a position because the city didn’t hire from within. Never. That would be because it does. Mary Eich, Joe Russo, Cindy Bergan, Lucia Sullivan, the principals at Angier and Bowen, the assistant principal at NN, and most department heads at North are all vets of NPS.
Jane – Who was the Superintendent when those you list were hired?
As someone who works in a university research setting, I can assure you that there are many people with masters degrees who are equally or more capable and knowledgeable than those with doctorates. The course work for many doctorates is the same as that for many masters degrees, and the skills needed to do a doctoral dissertation are not the same as those needed for being a good principal.
There has been massive “degree-requirement inflation” over the past few decades, in large part due to US News and World Reports grading universities partially on the percentage of their faculty with doctorates. Prior to that, many faculty, deans, and even college presidents were doctorate-less, including ones who did prestigious work in their fields.
David Fleishman and Jeff Young..
“Mary Eich, Joe Russo, Cindy Bergan, Lucia Sullivan, the principals at Angier and Bowen, the assistant principal at NN, and most department heads at North are all vets of NPS.”
Jane
Loretta Lamberti, Diana Guzzi and Midge Connolly were appointed as Principals of Elementary Schools by Jeff Young. Midge Connolly was chosen to be Vice Principal at NNHS by Jennifer Price. Dept Chairs are chosen by the Principal. Joe Russo was appointed by Jeff Young or Jim Marini as he came into the Asst Superintendent position in 2009. Lucia Sullivan was appointed by Jim Marini
Mary Eich, Cindy Bergan were appointed by Fleischman. Since those 2 were appointed we have had new principals at Countryside Marcia Uretsky, Ann- Koufman Frederick asst superintendent, Ayesha Farg Davis at Williams, John Hartunian Principal at Oak Hill and soon to be NNHS Principal all NOT from Newton.
So I must apologize – I was wrong – Flesichman did hire TWO administrators from with the NPS ranks. All the OTHERS he has hired since then for Principal or Asst Superintendent positions were NOT from within the Newton Public Schools.
Joanne – I’ve worked for the NPS for 27 years and for 27 years, people have claimed that Newton didn’t hire inside candidates. Not to mention, you clearly don’t understand the hiring process.
Jane – You know what I understand – We had Excellent Candidates within the NPS that were extremely familiar with NNHS who are not on the Short List.
You know everything about the NPS having worked there so long – so once again – My apologies for being really stupid when it comes to stuff like this.
@Joanne – I’m not sure who Marcia Uretsky is but she’s not the current principal of Countryside. The new(ish) Countryside principal, Beth Herlihy, was sort of an insider/outsider candidate. She was hired from Westwood I think but she had got her teaching start at Countryside and then was at Brown for a while before she went to Westwood.
I think your last comment backs up what Jane’s saying. Supt. Fleishman has been hiring both internal and external candidates rather than
The search process is highly confidential. It would be completely unethical and unprofessional for any member of a search committee to divulge the names of candidates before the finalists are announced. I have a friend who was on the committee, and I never considered asking her who the candidates were and if I had been so inappropriate to do so, she wouldn’t have told me. It’s just the way the hiring process works.
Jerry, Zervas’s Diana Beck is another inside/outside hire by David Fleishman. She interned at Zervas, was a classroom teacher for many years at Williams before becoming an elementary principal in Metro West. She was hired back to lead Zervas 3 years ago. And there is Oak Hill’s Eva Thompson, brought from her principalship at Pierce by Jeff Young when Hank Van Putten retired.
And Amy Kelly, who now has a position at the Ed Center.
I think we can safely say that Joanne’s statement that the Superintendent “only hires from outide of Newton never hires principals from within” has been debunked.
I’m not so sure it’s been “debunked,” Greg. I think there’s some truth to what Joanne has suggested, especially with high school principals. I’m trying to remember the last high school principal who was hired from within the system. Someone please remind me.
OK. This is just getting silly. @Mike: Joanne said Fleishman “never hires principals from within” not “high school principals” but more importantly, what difference does it make? Joanne doesn’t like the man. If every hire came from within (or half inside and half outside) she would have criticized that. We should want good hires, regardless of how we found them.
Mike Striar -Joanne’s talking about the current superintendent. Given that he has only been here a few years and hasn’t appointed a whole lot of high school principals yet, I can’t see how a list of where past h.s. principals are from can confirm what Joanne said even if they’ve all been from outside.
I know what Joanne said. But I’m commenting specifically about the hiring of high school principals. I think it’s fair to say that some of our outstanding lower level principals have been ignored when high school vacancies have occurred. I’ve had conversations with principals at the elementary and middle school levels who have expressed frustration about that exact point. I’m just wondering why the system seems to skip over qualified internal candidates?
Our standard should be the best candidate, not just a qualified candidate.
If someone has evidence that the best candidates are being ignored when they are internal, feel free to share actual data.
Otherwise, enough with this silliness.
What Paul said.
Mike – You continue to call elementary and middle school principals “lower level” and have indicated in the past that you think of moving to a different level in the system is “moving up” professionally, when that’s not the case. The qualifications for an excellent candidate to be principal in an elementary school are very different from that of a HS principal. The Asst. Superintendent of Elementary Education has always been an individual with a depth of experience in elementary education. Likewise, the Asst. Superintendent for Secondary Education always has a depth of experience at the secondary level. Think of it as two separate career paths.
Secondly, if you’ve had conversations with principals about why the system hasn’t hired them at a different level, then most likely you hit on the very reason the people haven’t been hired. Such a conversation with a parent would be unprofessional and inappropriate. The ability to maintain a professional relationship with parents is a basic qualification for the job.
I would be very unhappy if an elementary school principal with no high school experience were hired as a high school principal, just as I’d be very unhappy if a h.s. principal w/no elem. experience were hired as an elementary school principal. Neither is “higher” than the other, although one is usually larger. Different age ranges have different needs, and properly running school for those ages requires knowledge and experience of that age range.
My recollection is that Mike Welch went from being a Barry Housemaster at Newton North to the Principal of Newton South around 2003.
@Paul– I’m not conducting an investigation that requires ‘evidence” on anyone’s part. I’m simply asking a question about why lower level principals never seem to make that jump from elementary or middle school to high school. I’m sorry if you find that to be “silliness.”
@Jane– My reference to “lower level” was intended to refer to lower grade level. You suggested the qualifications are different for elementary school principals vs. high school principals. I have no doubt you’re correct. But I’m wondering what some of the big differences might be? To me, both seem remarkably similar.
Jane’s and mgwa’s point about different grade levels generally representing different career paths is supported by the resumes of Jen Price and Joel Stembridge. Both were administrators only in high school settings before coming to NNHS and NSHS.
Mike,
You made an accusation that certain principals have been “ignored” in the hiring process– that is a strong statement to be making without any evidence.
John Jordan was principal at Countryside Elementary School. He was selected as the Brown Middle School principal in 2001. Still in charge 14 years later.
John Jordan is a great example of someone I personally consider highly qualified to be considered for a high school principalship. What am I missing here? Why would the school system not take advantage of the fact that we have great principals at lower grade levels who could run a high school? One of the two finalists for the NNHS job is a middle school principal from Boston. How is it that a middle school principal from Boston is a finalist, but a highly regarded middle school principal from Newton is not even considered?
@Mike Striar – Silly question … do you have any idea whether he is interested in or applied for the job.
… and I do agree John Jordan is a great principal. For my own selfish reasons, I hope he doesn’t get pinched until my daughter finishes up at Brown.
@Jerry– I don’t know if Principal Jordan was interested in the NNHS job. But I would think the people responsible for hiring a new North principal would have asked him that question and invited him to apply. And John Jordan is only one example of some excellent principals we have in Newton. How about someone like Mark Springer, the principal of Mason-Rice for the past 20 years? In my opinion, he’d make an outstanding candidate for the North job. My concern is that people like John Jordan and Mark Springer are not being considered when high school principalships become available. My question is, why?
My kids’ pediatrician has been doing an excellent job treating kids for over 30 years. I wonder why he never started treating adults?
Mike,
What training and experience do you have that enables you to have an informed opinion on whether someone is qualified to be a high school principal?
@Adam– No need to wonder. Just ask him.
@Paul– I noticed that you comment on threads about other topics, like 40B for example. Do you have experience and training in construction or city planning? You continue to misinterpret my tone, which is inquisitive, not confrontational. Do you object to my asking questions and offering my opinion? Because that’s my understanding of what we are all doing here.
The best Principal that this town ever had was Ernest Van B.Seasholes which I believe the auditorium at Newton South High School is named after. He was my high school principal and teacher at Newton South. Mr. Seasholes was the Principal of Newton South from 1973-1997 and he then went on to be the Principal of Lexington High School from 2001-04. He also was the Principal at Day Middle School from 1967-73 and he was a teacher before that. Mr. Seasholes used to rotate taking attendance in all the classrooms at Newton South and as a result he knew every single student by first name. He was also an amazing teacher and taught me Geography in my Freshmen year at Newton South. He was and still is the BEST!
Oh gosh Mike, you misinterpret my tone. I was just asking a question!
Mike Striar, you say you are concerned about why certain people aren’t considered. I just wonder if your concern is evidenced by facts and if not how would you know they were not considered?
This is silly. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe what Joanne and Mike are saying (and I agree with) is if Newton has such a wonderful school system (which we do) why don’t we look to be more aggressive and hire within.
I agree with Tom, this is silly. Just not for the reasons Tom believes. I want my school department to select the best candidates. I don’t care where they worked previously. There is no evidence whatsoever that our school department or superintendent discriminates by not promoting employees (in fact quite the contrary). End of story as far as I’m concerned.
@Marti– I don’t claim to know who was or was not considered for the current job opening at NNHS. The search process involves a degree of confidentiality. So I have to base my comments on the search results that were announced by the Superintendent.
Other bloggers have suggested there’s a special skill-set required of a high school principal, which differs from the skills of a middle school principal. But I see that one of the two finalists was in fact a middle school principal from Boston. I’m wondering what skills that gentleman brings to the table, that Newton’s middle school principals apparently do not.
James “Jimmy” Marini
Best all around educator – was principal at North for many years. He did an excellent job as Interim Superintendent between Jeff Young and David Fleishman.
John Jordan is great and could be a high school principal, but even though he sports a youngish appearance, he is closer to retirement than you would think.
I guess he didn’t apply for the job because he loves what he is doing now, and is looking forward to retiring. I don’t think (just my opinion) that he would want to take on a large high school at this time.
Mike Striar, your comment “My concern is that people like John Jordan and Mark Springer are not being considered when high school principalships become available. My question is, why?”
My question was how do you know they weren’t?
You didn’t answer.
Mike – did you consider that maybe the Boston middle school principal wants to move to a high school position, but maybe the Newton middle school principal is already where he wants to be? You seem to assume it as a given that any good middle school principal would want to become a high school principal, and therefore must have applied.
Mike – I realize that I was referring to a previous discussion about “levels”, but that issue was resolved. My apologies.
Think of it this way – moving from one principalship to another is a lateral move unless one wants to change levels or school systems (that’s typically for personal reasons or if a candidate has been a principal in a small school and a larger school would provide a more challenging professional experience). If a principal wants to move up, then it’s typically to a central office position. If a principal wanted to move to another level of the system, then taking an administrative position at that level is a good idea.
Principal Jordan is FABULOUS. Not every educator wants to work with every age group. I found it very hard to read that moving up to high school principalship is more elite than middle school or elementary school. All educators work hard and specialize in an age group. There are some FABULOUS preschool teachers, and there are some average high school teachers. Preschool teachers, elementary teachers, middle school teachers and high school teachers all have different talents and just because you are a FABULOUS high school science teacher, you might not care to teach three year olds about the water cycle. But it doesn’t make the preschool teacher that holds a master degree any less of a teacher because he/she teaches at a preschool level.
Some might say that a pediatric cardiologist have different skills than a cardiologist. It isn’t that one is more elite than the other.
All other things being equal, running a 2000 student facility is more challenging than one with 800 children. Both are hard work but the scale dies make a difference.
It’s not just the scale. The difference between the needs of high school kids vs. elementary kids is huge due to developmental factors. Also, there’s a big difference between schools where kids stay in their classrooms most of the time vs. ones with multiple courses with multiple levels. Just as I wouldn’t consider being a high school principal as the qualification for becoming the head of a community college, I wouldn’t consider it as qualification for becoming principal of an elementary school nor vice versa.