SWAMPSCOTT — Marybeth Shea is excited to begin her journey with the “family-oriented community” at Clarke Elementary School.
The newest Swampscott principal will replace Jennifer Hunt, who left to take a position in another district. Shea, 54, is a veteran educator with more than two decades of experience. The Danvers native started at the beginning of July and said she was drawn to the job because it’s so close to where she grew up.
“I like that Clarke School is small because it allows for more personal connections with each student and family,” said Shea. “I love the ocean, it’s a beautiful location, and it has a very family-oriented community.”
She completed a two-part interview process led by a Swampscott committee of administrators, educators and parents. During the interview process, she learned the Clarke School is in its third year of implementing the Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS) curriculum, which is similar to the one she started at the Green Meadow School in Maynard, where she spent the last two years as principal.
“It was a very warm vibe during the interview,” she said. “The committee talked a lot about the warm school culture that is here and I thought that was very appealing.”
The Swampscott district has a very strong English Language Arts curriculum, she said. The Fundations, Readers & Writers workshop used by the K-4th school is a framework she has implemented before. She said she is very comfortable with it.
“I think the district is doing a lot of exciting work with its curriculum and technology,” said Shea. “I’m just excited to come in and really get to know everybody and the students.”
The majority of Shea’s background is with being a guidance counselor and working in residential programs for special education students. Before her role in Maynard, she was principal in the Pentucket Regional District and Lynnfield for six years. She was also an assistant principal in the Triton Regional district, worked as a counselor in Peabody schools and was a professor at White Pines College in New Hampshire.
Shea, a mother of two college-aged children, currently lives in Southern New Hampshire. She said she is overjoyed to be starting the next chapter of her educational career.
“I just really love fostering a warm culture and being very visible,” she said. “I like to be out in the parking lot and in the classrooms and the lunch room.”
