Revere selects its new schools chief

REVERE – City schools will have a new, albeit very familiar, face in the superintendent’s office next year, as assistant superintendent Dr. Dianne Kelly has been named to the district’s top administrative post beginning in July.”The baton will pass smoothly!” Superintendent Dr. Paul Dakin said in an email Monday. (Kelly) has been part of the district reform initiatives for almost 20 years and understands how to continue district and school improvement.”Kelly said she is excited to move to her new role.”I feel excited,” Kelly said. “Anxious in some ways, but excited anxiousness.”The School Committee voted unanimously last Tuesday to approve a contract naming Kelly the new superintendent.Kelly is in her 20th year in Revere Public Schools, starting her public school career as a math teacher at the high school. She moved to administration after eight years to become a dean of students, and then progressed through roles as the district director of mathematics, the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) director and assistant superintendent.As with past superintendent hires, Kelly’s tenure will overlap with Dakin, who completes his tenure in June. She officially takes over July 1, but the transition has already begun.Dakin will stay on as director of special projects, working particularly to oversee the building of the Hill School.Kelly said she would like to continue the progress and innovations the district has made, particularly in embracing technology and adopting new educational standards such as “flipped” learning – where instead of using homework to practice a concept learned in class, students are introduced to a concept through homework, and then practice it in class with a teacher at hand.”I’m not here to upset the apple cart and change the way things are done,” Kelly said. “I know we’re on a good path – our MCAS scores prove it, our national award that the high school got proves it. So we’re on the right path, it’s just a matter of continuing to work with everybody to move further down to the goal of success for all students.”But Kelly acknowledged this path might not always be straight or smooth.The technology programs – particularly laptops and iPads for every student – is expensive. Revere schools are also funded solely by the state; the city does not supplement the school budget like many wealthier communities are able to do, Kelly said.The biggest technology need is also the most expensive: a new high school.City officials hoped this would be paid for with casino revenue, but that ended when the Massachusetts Gaming Commission awarded the Boston-area casino license to the Wynn proposal in Everett.And the city has already “been incredibly generous,” according to Kelly, in supporting a 10-year project to build five schools.”To come back when we’re just barely finished with that project, looking for a new high school, it’s a tough ask, but it’s definitely a necessary ask,” Kelly said. “If we want to continue to be leading the urban districts in the state, it’s something we need to address sooner rather than later.”Kelly said the current high school was built during the 1970s when approximately 20 percent of students took one or two lab-science courses; now students are expected to take three years of lab sciences. Enrollment is also increasing, with more than 600 students in each of the past five kindergarten classes. Historically, the class numbered about 500 or 550 students, Kelly said.Kelly listed certain goals for her tenure. She would like Revere to become a Level 1 district, to build a new high school, and to encourage collaboration and shared leadership among teachers and administrators.And of course, her big goal involves the students.”I’d like kids coming back from wherever they go after high school and being able to say that they were well prepared here,” Kelly said.