ITEM PHOTO BY ADAM SWIFT
Pictured is Harrington Elementary School Principal Debra Ruggiero.
By ADAM SWIFT
PEABODY — Harrington Elementary School Principal Debra Ruggiero, a longtime fixture in Lynn education, is one of six candidates looking to take over the top spot in the Peabody schools.
Ruggiero was one of three candidates interviewed by the Peabody School Committee Wednesday night for the superintendent’s position. The committee will interview the remaining three candidates Monday night at City Hall.
“I’m a 24-year resident of Peabody with 32 years of experience in education,” said Ruggiero. “I am humbled and honored that you have chosen me as a viable candidate for the superintendent post.”
Ruggiero has experience as a regular education, curriculum and instruction, and special education teacher, as well as a principal.
“I have always been a proactive, collaborative, data-driven and reflective educator,” she said. “Through these practices, I’ve been able to work with teachers, parents, district and state in helping a school move from a Level 4 school to a Level 1 school.”
All Massachusetts districts and schools with sufficient data are classified into one of five accountability and assistance levels, with the highest performing in Level 1 and the lowest performing in Level 5.
At the Harrington School, Ruggiero said she has been able to put into practice her educational philosophy of focusing on the whole child, not just the academic side of a student. She also said schools must look at teaching to the individual abilities of the students and innovative ways to help them learn.
“It’s not about the the tests,” Ruggiero said. “It’s about teaching skills and strategies where students can learn no matter what is in front of them.”
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As the only Peabody resident in the field of six candidates being interviewed, Ruggiero said she has a deep connection to the city. Her children went through the Peabody school system and Ruggiero has been involved in youth sports, among other activities.
The school committee also interviewed Laura Chesson, an assistant superintendent in Arlington, and Arthur Unobskey, an assistant superintendent in Gloucester, on Wednesday night.
The committee is scheduled to interview Peter Badalament, former principal of Concord-Carlisle High School; Lourenco Garcia, principal at Revere High School; and John Oteri, headmaster at Somerville High School, on Monday.
The six candidates were selected from 19 applicants by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC), which was hired by the city to oversee the superintendent search process. It is expected that after the interviews are finished, the school committee will conduct site visits in the home districts of several of the candidates, with an eye toward hiring a replacement for interim superintendent Herb Levine within the next three to four weeks.
Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt Jr. said he was happy with the quality of the candidates brought forward by the MASC.
The new superintendent would start work in Peabody on July 1.