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Schools gain new assistant superintendent, lose principal

Date: 5/24/2011

May 23, 2011

By Chris Maza

Reminder Assistant Editor

LONGMEADOW — It's a good news, bad news kind of situation for Longmeadow Public Schools.

The good news is the department found its replacement for retiring Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Maureen Wilson. The bad news is the town now needs to find a new principal for Glenbrook Middle School.

On May 13, it was announced that Michael Sullivan, the current Glenbook principal, was selected to assume Wilson's responsibilities, effective July 1.

"I think it's going to be an interesting challenge for me," Sullivan said. "I have done a lot of work with curriculum in the middle school and I've worked at the high school level, so I feel I am very prepared in those areas and I know I am going to have to learn more about things on the elementary level, such as literacy instruction and things of that nature."

Sullivan, who is currently working on a doctoral degree at American International College, said he has been working on weaving more elementary education into his studies. However, he added that job requires more than specific subject knowledge.

"There's a lot more to the job. You don't need to necessarily be an expert on everything. You need to be an expert on getting adults to provide children with the best education possible," he said. "You need to know how to teach teachers how to be most effective."

Superintendent Marie Doyle said in a letter to the community that was posted on the district's Web site that Sullivan's five years of service to the school system have provided him with a great deal of experience that have prepared him for this position.

"He has recently interned in the central office, served as a curriculum leader, measured data and shared results, and succeeded in including all students," she said.

Sullivan added that he was involved in the committee that revised the assessment procedure for teachers and helped teachers in the district understand what Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System scores mean for the schools and their students.

Sullivan admitted he would miss Glenbrook, where he has been for all five of the years he has been employed by the district.

"I think I will really miss the interaction with the kids. It's a transition I had to make when I went from being a teacher to being a principal and now I'll have to make it again with even less interaction," he said. "I will also miss the close relationship I had with the staff here. We have a great, talented staff and I will miss having the daily interaction with them.."

The district posted on its Web site the schedule for the new hiring process for the open position with the appointment of a new principal slated for June 21 at the latest.

The job was posted on May 16 and will remain open for applications until May 27.

On May 26, the district will host two separate meetings to hear input on the hiring process, one at 3 p.m. for school staff and another at 7 p.m. for Glenbook parents. Both meetings will take place at the school library.

The schedule calls for the district to have initial interviews with candidates scheduled by June 1 with the interview process being completed by June 10.

On June 14, the district will have two more meetings at which staff and parents will have the opportunity to meet with the candidates.

Staff will meet in the library at 3 p.m. and parents will have the same opportunity at 7 p.m.



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