MEDFORD — City schools are starting the new year with plenty of new faces in key jobs.
New administrators include Charles (Chad) Fallon, principal/director of Medford Vocational Technical High School; Paul Teixeira, English Learners program director, and Shannon Demos, assistant principal, Brooks Elementary School.
Administrators taking on new roles this year include Ian Charles, former assistant principal at the McGlynn Middle School, who is Medford High’s new assistant principal. Jill Sawyer was assistant principal/director at Medford Vocational Technical High School. She will now serve as school associate principal/director.
Jody Liu taught English and served as the National Honor Society advisor at Medford High. Her new job is assistant principal of the McGlynn Middle School. Molly Laden, who was the Assistant Director of Media and Technology, will now serve as media and technology director. Music teacher and Orchestra Director Anthony Szykniej has been promoted to Director of Fine Arts.
The newly-promoted administrators jumped into a busy schedule even as they stepped into a new school year. In addition to learning School Department in-house communication systems, they met with curriculum directors, attended literacy and math workshops, learned about the teacher evaluation system and received training in the district’s social/emotional initiative, mediation, professional dress and protocol guidelines.
In addition to 25 new teachers and administrators stepping into new jobs, Superintendent of Schools Roy Belson starts the 2017-2018 school year working with Deputy Superintendent Beverly Nelson, Assistant Superintendent Diane Caldwell and Curriculum Director Bernadette Ricciardelli as well as Kathleen Medaglio, director of Pupil Services; Amelia Jensen, director of Guidance; Toni Vento, supervisor of Health Services; Paul Teixeira, director of English Learners; Molly Laden, director of Media & Technology; Lisa Evangelista, Public Information Officer; and Marie Cassidy, director, Medford Family Network.
Donna Laskey and Liu handle the District Mentoring and Induction Program and Charlene Douglas, president of the Medford Teachers Association, is a frequent resource for school administrators.
“This is an important time for our new staff to get acclimated to the Medford Public Schools system,” Belson said during an orientation session for administrators.
