New Principal Chosen for Waltham Elementary School

A new principal has been chosen to lead Henry Whittemore Elementary School.

The Waltham Public Schools district has hired Ross Mulkerin to lead the Whittemore school, according to Superintendent Susan Nicholson. Mulkerin current serves as the assistant director of special services for the Binghamton City School District in New York, Nicholson said.

Mulkerin will become the third principal of the Whittemore school in two calendar years. He will replace former principal Sara Lane, who abruptly left her post in January after less than year on the job. Prior to Lane’s departure, former principal Deborah Butts suddenly left her post saying the school needed a “change of leadership.”

Mulkerin will start in Waltham sometime over the summer, according to Nicholson. He has signed a contract to work 10 months each year, similar to most Waltham principals, Nicholson said. However, the superintendent said she had requested, through the next school year’s budget, money to have Mulkerin work 12 months per year. Once that issued is settled, Nicholson said, the district will determine his annual salary.

Mulkerin's contract run for three years, Nicholson said. 

Mulkerin brings a experienced background to the Waltham schools, Nicholson said, including special education skills. Nicholson said Mulkerin previously worked with “high needs” students in New York and that he can apply those skills in Waltham. 

“His focus on student achievement is very strong. His work with the high needs population is very similar,” Nicholson said. "He has all the pieces that we are looking for. I expect him to stay here a very long time,” Nicholson said.

Mulkerin plans to sell his home over the summer and move to the Waltham area, Nicholson said. Mulkerin previously lived in Waltham, Nicholson said, and worked as an educator under Whittemore’s current interim principal, Charles McInnis.