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Date: 7/2/2015
LONGMEADOW?– Superintendent of Schools Marie Doyle recently announced her plans to retire following the 2015-2016 school year, her sixth as head of the district.
“I’ve loved my time in Longmeadow because it is such a caring community in terms of financial support for the school system,” Doyle said. “We couldn’t ask for a more generous community. I also really respect the fact that community service is highly valued by the students and the parents in the community.
“We have outstanding staff, which always makes the job a pleasure when you work with such talented people,” she continued.
Prior to Doyle coming to Longmeadow, she was the superintendent for Carlisle from 2004 to 2010 and the principal of Bigelow Middle School in Newton from 1995 to 2004.
Doyle said she became interested in public education because she’s believes education “makes a difference” and that working with children is “as rewarding a profession as one can have.”
She began teaching at Chenery Middle School in Belmont in 1982 and during her career she’s seen massive changes in public education throughout the Commonwealth such as technology and state mandates.
“I think the mandates are coming too fast and too hard,” Doyle added. “I think we need to slow down and make sure that we’re able to implement changes successfully.”
Technology has served as an extraordinary addition to education within recent decades, she noted.
“We’re able to personalize learning,” Doyle said. “Students can receive remedial support or challenging materials through the Internet. For example, we’re offering Mandarin [Chinese] online at the high school and we could not provide that opportunity without having technology. “
Her time as a teacher and as an administrative official have been equally rewarding, she noted.
“Teaching allows you to be very creative as well as making a huge difference in the lives of students,” Doyle said. “In particular, I loved middle schools because they still have such a passion for learning and they really want to save the world and make the world a better place. I think that all educators are destined to teach at a certain grade level and that’s where my passion led me.
“I think that the superintendence allows you to facilitate change on a larger level,” she continued. “For example, our work in technology or in curriculum development has been significant. I think change comes at a slower pace, but it’s rewarding in the long run.”
She will miss the people in the Longmeadow public school system the most, she said.
“I really enjoyed my administrative team, the School Committee, the teachers, and the administrators,” she added.
Doyle said the School Committee will head the search for her replacement and that if asked by the committee she would be happy to offer advice regarding the hiring process.
“My suggestion is that they hire a firm this summer that can dive into the process because they’ll want to do focus groups in the fall and a good time to hire superintendents is the early winter, so that will be my advice to the School Committee,” she added.
Doyle said she’s spoken with School Committee Chair Janet Robinson and Vice Chair Michael Clark regarding her suggestion, but the entire School Committee has yet to hear it.
“The full School Committee will weigh in on it on the summer retreat and they’ll decide what process they want to use,” Doyle noted.