Swampscott acts on its principals

SWAMPSCOTT – One comes from the vice principal’s office of an urban elementary school that was one step away from being taken over by the state.The other came from a first-grade classroom at an elementary school in exurban Northborough.Now, they are both in Swampscott, relying on each other’s past experiences to navigate the first year of being an elementary school principal.”We couldn’t be from two more opposite segments of the state in terms of students we were teaching and their socioeconomics,” Stacy Phelan, principal of Hadley Elementary School, said Wednesday, speaking of herself and Clarke Elementary School principal Jennifer Hunt. “But she’s slightly ahead of me by four months (working in the district) and has the sense of being the new kid in town.””The job is really new, and I’m coming into a district that is run a little differently,” Hunt said. “It’s good to have somebody like Stacy who has had that administrative experience.”Hunt started July 1 at Clarke while Phelan began at Hadley on Oct. 14, taking over after former principal Sandra Rivers retired.The two sat down Wednesday at Clarke to talk about being “the new kid” in school – and the challenge of having that new kid be atop the school’s leadership.But as they completed each others’ sentences and laughed when recalling similar experiences, it was immediately clear that each of the two “new kids” had already found a pal in the district.Both Hunt and Phelan said they are familiar with Swampscott, if not the school district itself.Hunt has actually lived in Swampscott for four years. Phelan is a Lynn resident and previously taught math before becoming a vice principal at Connery Elementary School.The two agreed that their familiarity with the town would help in their principalships. But both also said bringing “fresh eyes” to the district has benefits for principals, noting that the most senior principal in the district began in 2012. That is also shortly before Pamela Angelakis began as superintendent (although Angelakis had been in the district for more than two decades before taking the top leadership post).”It’s a new administration, but the great thing about it is we all have similar goals and philosophies about education,” Hunt said. “It’s kind of starting from the ground up.”Things could have been even more “fresh” for the district had a proposal passed for a single town elementary school. But Town Meeting and voters independently rejected the project.This preserved the long-term job opportunities for both Hunt and Phelan, but also presents challenges – as it leaves them in buildings that do not comply with current building codes, are cramped for space and, in Hadley’s case, been ruled “deficient” by the state.Phelan said that the physical problems have (so far) been “manageable” at Hadley. But she said she has learned the school is more than just its physical building.”I think that the community itself absolutely adores the (Hadley) school – not the physical structure, but what it does and has meant to the community,” Phelan said.Hunt agreed.”This community, this teaching community, these teachers are amazing,” Hunt said.”The teachers are really invested,” Phelan said. “They work long hours, are at the school events, go to the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) meetings.””The school-home connection is fantastic,” Hunt said.And each principal praised the welcome they had received from their staff, students and students’ families.”I didn’t expect that being from outside the district I would be so welcomed and that people would be so interested in what I knew,” Phelan said.Hunt said she knows she has found a good fit.”The first time I walked in here, I thought, this is it, this is where I want to be.”