Marblehead principal finalists complete interview process

MARBLEHEAD – The three finalists for the principal’s job at Marblehead High finished a grueling 24-hour interview process Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.MHS Assistant Principal Kristina Kyles, Swampscott High Assistant Principal Bryan Menegoni and Ken Weinstein, principal of the Maimonides School, a private school in Brookline, met with Marblehead parents for an hour Monday night. Tuesday afternoon they spent 30 minutes each with students, teachers and administrators.Parent questions revolved around communications and the culture of the school. Teachers wanted to know about system operations and building a school culture among the faculty and staff. Administrators wanted to know how each candidate would implement change.Superintendent of Schools Paul Dulac said Tuesday afternoon that he and the search committee plan to conduct a finalist interview Monday with one more candidate, Interim Marblehead High Principal Sue Gee, and he expects to make a decision by next Friday.Students, who lost former Principal John Ziergiebel to cancer last fall and have had Gee sidelined by illness recently, kept coming back to two subjects: technology and leadership."We’re looking for a strong leader," said high school freshman Max Levine, who serves on the search committee.Weinstein, a 26-year educator and Marblehead resident who serves as secular studies administrator for the high school section at Maimonides, said accessibility and visibility are important parts of leadership."Schools have to be really moral places," he said. "Adults there have to be really good role models. And school has to be a warm, safe place where you can make mistakes and nobody laughs at you."Weinstein reminded students that technology changes every five years or so and called for more "hands-on learning" in high school to balance the large amount of book-learning that is expected of students.Menegoni, a former Marblehead High teacher who left two years ago to become assistant principal in Swampscott, said the principal’s job is "to model (the way) I want you to act.""Relationships drive leadership," he said. At least one night a week he goes to an evening event at Swampscott High and, as principal, he promised to expand that to three nights, "to show each kid that they’re important and what they do is important."When student Elizabeth Girard recalled how approachable "Mr. Z" was, Menegoni said he greeted students at the high school entrance every morning and sat with them at lunch each day."Do I look scary?" he asked her. "No," she said. "Good."Kyles, who became METCO director at the high school in 2007 and was promoted to assistant principal last July, has performed the principal’s duties in Gee’s absence, including preparation of the school’s $4.5 million budget, evaluating 85 teachers, resolving any difficulties that concern the school’s 2,000 parents and keeping an open door for the students. "The school should belong to you," she told the students.She told the students she used to drive around all day visiting schools and out-of-town METCO programs, but now she parks her car in the high school lot every morning at 6:15. "Two or three days a week it’s there until 8-9 p.m," she said. "I go home and crash, but it’s really rewarding."As the youngest of the candidates Kyles said it was "an honor" to be in the running.