School Days, School Days

The start of a new school year is a time of much excitement and, usually, a good dose of apprehension, too. Until seeing all of those familiar faces, the idea of going back to school can make even the well-seasoned eighth grader anxious.

Students heading back to Oak Bluffs and Tisbury Schools will have some important new faces to greet them this year as both schools have new principals. The Tisbury School also will have a new assistant principal.

In case the end of the school year seems like light years ago, here's a . At the tail end of the 2010–2011 school year, Dr. James Weiss, superintendent of Martha’s Vineyard Public Schools, announced that as of August 1, 2011 Tisbury School principal Richard Smith would take over the helm of the . Smith replaces former Oak Bluffs principal Carlin Hart, who remains at the school in the capacity of assistant principal.  assistant principal John Custer, who served for many years alongside Smith, is the new principal of the Tisbury School. A search for a new assistant principal for Tisbury was to be carried out over the summer.

"There's two ways a Superintendent can make appointments," said Weiss. "The best way is to do a search, both nationally and locally, and that is the way it should be done. However, in this case, time was of the essence and so I had to make the decision myself based on information I had from working closely with all those involved throughout the year."

According to Weiss, the fact that Custer has worked so closely with Smith over the years made all the difference. "I wouldn't have made the decision if I didn’t think Custer could step right in and not have a problem," said Weiss. "He knows the routine, the school, he shares Richie’s vision and can keep going forward without missing a beat."

Custer and those at the Tisbury School had the summer to do a local and regional search for an assistant principal interested in trying out the position for a year. "As luck would have it," said Weiss, "Sean Mulvey applied for the job and the entire team was impressed." Mulvey was hired to fill Donna Lowell-Bettencourt's position at the when she was promoted to interim principal, following Bob Lane's retirement in June 2010. Mulvey's one-year contract for his position as interim assistant principal expired in the end of June.

According to Weiss, the Tisbury School will "stay very stable" as a result of the changes. The Oak Bluffs School saw very little staff turnover from last year and it is Weiss's hope that as school gets started, kids will see the same people doing the same things. "But," said Weiss, "we’re looking at how to make that more structured and more organized. Richie will be able to rally whole school community, the staff, the parents. He can make decisions that need to be made and begin to articulate a much more well thought out vision for the school."

There were no administrative changes to either the or the . At the West Tisbury school, interim assistant principal Lowell-Bettencourt will stay on to work alongside principal Mike Halt, who recently returned from a tour in Afghanistan. "Donna and Mike make a great team. They have formed a really good relationship," said Weiss.

Andrew Berry and Matt Malowski, the two interim assistant principals at the , were also brought on for the long term.

"I believe now we are in a very good place in terms of leadership and have in place at all the buildings what we need to provide true education for all the kids," said Weiss.

However, there remain concerns going forward, Weiss explained, as Dan Seklecki, director of student support services for all Island schools, is retiring this coming January. "All these changes mean nothing compared to [Seklecki's leaving]. Dan has done his job better than well for 30 years. He is the institutional memory for this office and has worked with students, who are now parents and grandparents. It's going to be a real challenge for us to replace him."