Marshall Middle School to welcome new principal

LYNN – Students returning from Christmas Recess will welcome a new year and a new – but, for the district, familiar – face in the principal’s office at Thurgood Marshall Middle School.”It’s the start of a new year, and it’s symbolically a nice time to start at the school,” said Molly Cohen, who will be leaving her current position as vice principal at Breed Middle School to become the new principal at Marshall beginning Jan. 5. “It’s exciting, it’s really overwhelming, but I do think that amazing things will happen for us.”Former Marshall Middle School Principal Dr. Richard Cowdell announced in mid August that he was resigning from the school, effective at the end of that month.The resignation shocked school committee members and Lynn Schools Superintendent Dr. Catherine Latham, who made a last-ditch effort to keep Cowdell. But he said he wanted to pursue a position as a Spanish teacher in Peabody. Marshall opened in September with veteran coach and educator James Ridley coming out of retirement to serve as Marshall’s interim principal.Cohen said she began considering the job in October, trying to reflect on whether she wanted to leave Breed and apply for the top post at another middle school.”It was actually a very hard decision for me, because I love my job at Breed,” Cohen said. “We’re doing some great things at Breed ? I just feel very fortunate to be a part of that.”Although, she said there is one thing that she wouldn’t miss about her job Breed: detention duty.Cohen, 41, grew up in Nahant and now lives in Marblehead. She received a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Vermont with a dual major in English and sociology. She earned a Master of Arts degree in Teaching English as a second language from Simmons College, and a Master of Education degree in school counseling from Salem State University. She received her principal license after completing the Merrimack Leadership Academy program.Cohen began her career teaching English as a foreign language in Chile and then teaching English as a second language in Boston. She entered public education by teaching English as a second language in Salem, then joined Lynn Public Schools in 2005 as a sheltered English immersion teacher at Lynn Vocational Technical Institute. Cohen subsequently became a bilingual guidance counselor at Lynn English High School, then vice principal at Breed.”I really have had many different roles in the schools, which I really appreciate,” Cohen said. “It helps me have a bird’s-eye view on the schools and how they interact.”Latham also stressed this experience in naming Cohen as principal.”Ms. Cohen has extensive experience as a teacher, guidance counselor and school administrator,” Latham said in a press release. “Ms. Cohen is proficient in written and oral Spanish, knowledgeable in curriculum and instruction planning and implementation, skilled in data analysis, and experienced working with community agencies.”Cohen repeatedly emphasized taking a team approach to school leadership. She said this team approach worked at Breed and she hoped to work with top administrators at Marshall to continue this collaborative approach.”They have a really strong culture in personal relationship building,” Cohen said. “When you ground your practices in respect, you get positive results.”She said her biggest goal for the school was to start emphasizing college and career readiness at the middle-school level.”The organizations target high schools when they think about college and career readiness, because it is logical,” Cohen said. “But the seed needs to be planted in middle school.”Cohen acknowledged it can be difficult to begin a principal position midway through the school year. But she said she was glad to start sooner rather than later, noting that Marshall prepares for a new school building scheduled to open in Sept. 2016.”This gives me ample opportunity to get to know the teachers, students, and parents and then we will transition into a new school,” Cohen s