BPS Announces New School Leaders for 2019-20 School Year

The Boston Public Schools (BPS) is pleased to announce the new school leaders for the 2019-20 school year. Some of these principals and headmasters are new to the district, while others have already cultivated rich histories at BPS as former students, teachers, or administrators.

This year, BPS is proud to welcome 17 new school leaders. Some quick facts about the new leaders:

76% are leaders of color
70% have previous BPS classroom and/or administrative experience
47% are fluent in a language other than English

Three of the district’s new headmasters and principals have risen to leadership positions following long tenures at their schools: Camila Hernandez has spent 9 years at the Greenwood, Tanya Woodard has worked at the Hennigan for 16 years, and Amilcar Silva has spent close to three decades serving the Burke community.

Two Central Office leaders who previously oversaw instruction at several schools will narrow their focus to individual school communities for the 2019-20 school year. Dr. Ligia Noriega-Murphy has assumed the school leader position at the Jackson/Mann K-8 School as Assistant Superintendent on Assignment. Dr. Jodi Fortuna has likewise taken leadership of the Lee Pilot Academy in Dorchester.

T’Sheba Martin, former principal of Timilty Middle School is now principal of the Young Achievers Science and Math Pilot School. In addition, BPS welcomes back Olga Frechon, who recently retired from the district. Ms. Frechon has agreed to serve as an interim leader of the Dante Alighieri Montessori School until the search for a permanent leader is completed.

Brief biographies of the new BPS school leaders follow:

	Harriet A. Baldwin Early Learning Pilot Academy Min-Jen Taylor, Principal Mrs. Taylor began her education career in Taiwan, and moved to the United States in 1994. A 27-year veteran of public and independent education who believes excellence for all is achieved by dedicated collaboration, Mrs. Taylor is returning to BPS with a commitment to develop an empowering and trusting school culture.
	William Blackstone Elementary School Shammah Daniels, Principal Ms. Daniels has been an educator in North Carolina for nearly 25 years and is excited to relocate to Boston. She most recently served as the K-8 Administrator of the Alternative Learning Program in Pitt County Schools in Greenville, N.C.
	Boston Teachers Union K-8 Pilot School Kristen Leathers, Interim Co-Lead Teacher Ms. Leathers has over a decade of experience in BPS as a teacher and teacher leader. For many years, Ms. Leathers taught English Language Arts and English as a Second Language at Brighton High School in addition to a variety of leadership roles. Ms. Leathers was also the Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) Director at Brighton High last school year.
	Jeremiah E. Burke High School Amilcar Silva, Interim Headmaster Mr. Silva has been a BPS educator for over 25 years, all of them at the Burke. Fluent and literate in five languages, Mr. Silva began his career at the Burke as an English as a Second Language teacher.
	Sarah Greenwood K-8 School Camila Hernandez de Obi-Tabot, Interim Principal Ms. Hernández de Obi-Tabot, born in Bogotá, Colombia, joined the Greenwood community as a first-grade teacher in 2010. As an immigrant and English learner, she is passionate about establishing supports and access to learning for all students.
	James W. Hennigan K-8 School Tanya Woodard, Interim Principal Ms. Woodard is a BPS graduate whose professional journey brought her to BPS and the Hennigan in September 2003. Over the past 16 years, Ms. Woodard has served the Hennigan community as a fifth-grade teacher, acting assistant principal, and most recently the director of instruction.
	Rafael Hernández K-8 School Carolina Brito, Interim Principal Proud of her Latin American origins, Carolina Brito has spent her career working to build communities and classrooms of Black and Latino Excellence. She started by founding a Latinx Ethnic Studies program at Cristo Rey Boston and has most recently focused her work on coaching teachers to collaborate and execute equity-driven classroom instruction. She has worked in every sector of education (public, private, and charter), and is excited to call BPS her new home.
	Oliver W. Holmes Innovation School Edverette Brewster, Principal Mr. Brewster spent eight years teaching humanities at the Frederick Pilot Middle School. While at the Frederick, Mr. Brewster served as a teacher leader on the instructional leadership team. At the Hurley last year, Mr. Brewster supported the school leader in developing, implementing and monitoring the school’s strategic plan
	Joseph J. Hurley K-8 School Bethy Verano, Interim Principal Ms. Verano has worked for BPS since 2013. For the last three years, Ms. Verano served as assistant headmaster at Boston Latin School, leading the implementation of equity-related policies while serving as the primary administrator for students in grades 9-12, overseeing discipline, student support, and family engagement.
	Mission Hill K-8 School Geralyn Bywater McLaughlin, Co-Teacher Leader Ms. McLaughlin was one of the founding teachers of the Mission Hill K-8 and has mentored teachers in early education instruction throughout that time. Ms. McLaughlin has led a pre-kindergarten classroom at the Mission Hill K-8 for the past seven years.
	Mission Hill K-8 School Jenerra Williams, Co-Teacher Leader Ms. Williams was most recently a third and fourth grade teacher at Mission Hill. Ms. Williams has had a long and successful career in elementary education, having taught for the past 17 years.
	New Mission High School Andrew Bott, Interim Headmaster Mr. Bott has over 20 years of experience in public education, most recently serving as Superintendent of the Brookline Public Schools. Mr. Bott has extensive experience working in BPS, including school leader at three schools. As Principal of Orchard Gardens, Mr. Bott envisioned and built a comprehensive K-8 arts program including music, visual arts, theater, dance, and media arts.
	William H. Ohrenberger School John Travis, Principal Mr. Travis was previously an award winning math teacher in Woodbury, N.J., before beginning his tenure with BPS in the 2017-2018 school year as Director of Human Capital Strategy. Mr. Travis then pursued enrollment in the Lynch Leadership Academy, and was most recently a leadership fellow at the Harvard-Kent Elementary School in Charlestown.
	Michael J. Perkins Elementary School Maisha Rounds, Principal Ms. Rounds began her career teaching at the elementary level in her native South Carolina. During her time in the classroom, she attained National Board Certification, was named Charleston County School District Teacher of the Year, and was a nominee for South Carolina Teacher of the Year.
	Pauline A. Shaw Elementary School Ashley Davis, Principal Since the spring of 2019, Ms. Davis has led the P.A. Shaw as interim principal. A lifelong learner, Ms. Davis has been the principal fellow through the Lynch Leadership Academy at the P.A. Shaw Elementary School.
	James P. Timilty Middle School Jason Meland, Interim Principal Mr. Meland has spent the last eight years as an educator, most recently serving as acting middle school principal at Prospect Hill Academy Charter School in Cambridge. Mr. Meland is bilingual and previously worked as a Spanish teacher in Indianapolis Public Schools, before serving as both the Spanish Coordinator and World Languages Coordinator at Prospect Hill Academy Charter School.
	West Zone Early Learning Center Stacia LeMond, Interim Principal Ms. LeMond is a Massachusetts native and has been a BPS educator for the past 25 years. Ms. LeMond has taught a variety of academic subjects in grades levels 1-8, including visual arts. Most recently she was a grade 1 inclusion teacher at the West Zone ELC.