Dr. Mary C. Nash, Founder and Principal 1992-2004 

 

Lyon K-8 opened its doors in 1992, as a full-inclusion elementary and expanded into the middle school grades in 1999. The 2016-17 school year marks its 25th anniversary.

The Mary Lyon Pilot High School (MLPHS) was approved for functioning by the Boston Public Schools Committee on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 and opened its doors in September 2009. It has been designed as a co-teaching, full-inclusion model that accommodates 14 general education students and 6 students with emotional impairments in each classroom.

 

The Mary Lyon School was the only major public facility constructed in the Faneuil section of Brighton under the team of Boston's Mayor James Michael Curley. The six room schoolhouse first opened its doors in September 1914 and according to local historian William Marchione, the schoolhouse "was overcrowded from the day it opened." The Mary Lyon School is located in the middle of Beechcroft Street which runs from Faneuil Street to Washington Street in Brighton. The school lies between Brighton Center and Oak Square. Many of our students' parents like to refer to our facility as the "little red schoolhouse." We have nine instructional classrooms and one technology/media center.

 

We are grateful to our founder, Dr. Mary C. Nash, for designing a first of its kind elementary school that meets the needs of students with social, emotional and behavioral disabilities.   

 

Dr. Nash is currently the proud Superintendent of Schools of Maine School Administrative District 35 [MSAD 35] which serves over 2,300 students and their families living in Eliot and South Berwick, Maine.  Dr. Nash was appointed Superintendent of Schools for MSAD 35 in 2011 and continues to serve as its Superintendent today.  In October 2016 Dr. Nash was selected as the Superinentendent of the Year by the Maine School Management Assocation in affiliation with the American Association of School Superintendents.  Dr. Nash earned her doctorate degree in curriculum, instruction and administration from Boston College in 1997.  She was appointed a District Fellow for postgraduate training at the Institute for Learning at the University of Pittsburgh with Lauren Resnick from 1998 through 2001.  Dr. Nash worked in the Boston Public Schools for 35 years from 1975 to 2010.  In 1992, she founded the highly successful Mary Lyon K-8 School [a full inclusion school for students with emotional, neurological or behavioral disabilities] and remained its Principal until June 2004.  Dr. Nash was a member of the Superintendent Tom Payzant’s Leadership Team from 1999 to 2004 as a Principal Cluster Leader for Clusters 2 and 8.  She previously was the Senior Advisor for special education in Boston, as well as a special education teacher.  From 2004-2007 Dr. Nash was an Assistant Superintedent in the Boston Public Schools supervising and supporting whole school improvement efforts in 48 elementary, middle and high schools.  In 2007 Dr. Nash was appointed an Academic Superintendent for Elementary Schools through 2010 supervising and supporting the work of 25 elementary schools around accelerating every student’s performance.