Salem Welcomes Back Glenn Burns As New High School Principal

SALEM, MA — Salem Public Schools is bringing back a familiar face to lead a new challenge at Salem High School.

Glenn Burns, the former principal at Collins Middle School and current principal at Haverhill High School, will become the executive principal at Salem High School beginning in July.

Zrike said Friday afternoon Burns will "lead the implementation of our high school redesign efforts across our three campuses, which include Salem High School, Salem Prep, and New Liberty Innovation School, ensuring that every high school student in the Salem Public Schools receives an exceptional learning experience."

Burns replaces Samantha Meier, who said in early March she was leaving at the end of the school year for personal reasons.

Burns was chosen out of a field of three finalists that also included Malden High Principal Chris Mastrangelo and McCormack Middle School of Boston principal Elvis Henriquez.

"Under his leadership, I am confident that we will see higher graduation rates, lower dropout rates, expanded access to advanced coursework, improved student performance on state assessments, and above all, increased student engagement, agency, and leadership," Zrike said.

Zrike said in Burns' time in Haverhill that school had improved attendance rates, increased enrollment, expanded opportunities and access to vocation technical education pathways and built the largest early college program in the state.

While at Collins from 2014 to 2018, Zrike said Burns expanded STEM offerings, sports programming and engineering courses.

Burns previously worked in the Fall River Public Schools as a teacher, coach and assistant principal. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bridgewater State College and a Master of Education in Leadership from Providence College.

He also completed a fellowship through Boston College's Lynch Leadership Academy.

"Burns is fiercely committed to growing early college offerings, workforce development opportunities, career technical pathways, and extracurricular options for students," Zrike said.

Zrike said Burns will work with Meier to ensure a smooth transition and will schedule appointments over the next few months to meet with students, staff and families.

"I am grateful to all who participated in the interview and search process for our new leader," Zrike said.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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