GHS Assistant Principal Named Tops in State

At the end of the day, says assistant principal Maureen Cohen, it’s all about the students. And the end of her day can run well into the evening.

That dedication helped her earn the title of Massachusetts Secondary School Administrators’ Association assistant principal of the year for 2011-2012.

The award was based on a number of factors, including her leadership and collaboration skills, curriculum instruction and assessment, and her efforts to help establish and maintain a positive school culture.

“We’re all in it for the kids,’’ she said. “That’s why we do it.’’

Because of the school’s relatively small size, she said gets to take on a number of roles. She praised principal James Pignataro for encouraging her to work in tandem with him and to take on leadership projects.

In some school districts, the assistant principal’s role could fairly be described as “the enforcer.’’ And handling discipline issues, often in conjunction with Pignataro, remains a part of the job.

But it is only a part. And working closely with students helps, she said.  “The more you get to know the kids, the more you can be proactive and catch things before they become larger issues,’’ she said.

Discipline is “sometimes a great part and sometimes a lesser part’’ of her day but generally it’s limited because “the kids are great, and they have a positive culture here,’’ she said.

That allows her to focus on other activities, including:

Maintaining a blog about the ongoing new high school building project.

Updating a Friday focus blog, a form of internal communication with teachers to share educational topics and resources

Developing a personalized freshman advisory program that trains students to be leaders and then helps seniors assist freshmen in the transition to high school.

Hosting technology workshops to help advance teacher skills

Working on a co-teaching model that pairs mainstream teachers with special education instructors.

Cohen lives in Grafton, the town she and her husband Brian chose when they were looking for a nice community to live and raise their sons Connor, 6, and Liam, 3. They moved here before she took the Grafton job.

She received her bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College and her master’s degree from Northeastern University. She is currently working on her doctorate in education from Northeastern University.

She taught at Taunton High School and Framingham High School before accepting the vice principal post at GHS in 2005.

She said that every decision she makes and action she takes centers around the students and creating the best environment and opportunities for student learning.

“The great ones are the ones that remember that, she said.

Keeping that focus can be a challenge. “It’s easy to get sidetracked with all the other stuff,’’ she said. “You need to carve out time every day for the kids.’’

She is excited about the new school, which is scheduled to open this fall.  “It’s going to be a phenomenal 21^st century learning environment to launch the students and our programs into the 21^st century,’’ she said.

“Jim and I make a great team,’’ she said. “I really enjoy working here as an assistant principal, especially with a new building on the horizon and everything’s that going on’’

She said that she is “always looking for new challenges. These are exciting times for the Grafton public schools. I am always looking forward to new opportunities within the district to help lead.’’