SWAMPSCOTT — Nearly every business you can think of has faced unimaginable challenges during the coronavirus pandemic, but none, perhaps, has been more of an uphill (and not to mention controversial) battle than education.
Just ask Swampscott resident and Lynnfield Superintendent of Schools, Kristen Vogel.
In the early days of the pandemic back in late winter, Vogel was among a select group of candidates in the final interview pool for the position. A few weeks later in early March, the state shut down public schools across the Commonwealth, leaving educators, parents and administrators scrambling to find alternative solutions to keep students on a learning track.
Vogel accepted the job in early April, but it was clear to her by May, that she had a huge task in front of her.
“I came to the conclusion that this is not going to be the same and realized that our entire summer would be consumed with figuring out how to keep teachers teaching and students learning,” said Vogel, whose first official day was July 1. “I knew it would be challenging, but had no idea how challenging it would be. Even today, some eight months since the start of this pandemic, every day is a struggle to find the right balance.”
As if coping with COVID-19 isn’t enough, Vogel has also been coping with the district’s ever-growing enrollment in the elementary schools. Saturday, a special town meeting is being held at 1:30 p.m. at the high school for the sole purpose of voting on a proposal that would add 10 new classrooms to both of Lynnfield’s elementary schools. The project carries a hefty price — $17 million, a ticket that will cost taxpayers an average of $205 annually for the next 20 years.
“My husband (John) and I were town meeting members and John was actually on the committee to get the proposals through along with (Gov.) Charlie Baker, so I remember many years of town meetings and the same people would get up and make arguments that they went through it and don’t want it now,” Vogel said. “Eventually it was that more younger people had moved into the community and that’s what swung it through. These people said it was not OK for their kids. We do need a new high school.
“I’ve been through this before and that is exactly what is happening in Lynnfield. The bottom line is there are already people doing lessons and work and tutoring in the hallways. It’s needed right now.”
Vogel has lived in Swampscott for 22 years, raising her two daughters, Sarah and Annie, with her husband.
She said one of the reasons she applied for the Lynnfield position was its small size.
“I love Swampscott and it is very similar to Lynnfield with the same number of schools,” she said. “Both of our daughters had excellent experiences in the public schools and Swampscott is a wonderful town. You can do anything in Swampscott. I loved that when the kids were little we could walk to the beach and walk to get ice cream. They walked to school, which we loved.”
Vogel said she and John weren’t really looking to move to Swampscott.
“At the time, my first child was born, I was a house parent, teacher and coach at Governor Dummer, which I loved, but that sheltered atmosphere wasn’t what we were looking for for raising our children, so we started to look and then one day thought ‘maybe we can afford Swampscott.’ We ended up buying the first house we looked at and have been on the same street ever since.”
A Middletown, Conn., native, Vogel graduated from St. Lawrence University in 1989 with a B.A. in history, where she played women’s ice hockey and rowed.
Vogel began her career as a teacher at then Governor Dummer Academy, teaching history and coaching ice hockey and field hockey from 1990-1998. She taught history and was the Social Studies Curriculum Director at Swampscott High from 1998-2005, then served as that school’s Assistant Principal of Instruction, Curriculum and Professional Development from 2005-2006.
From 2006-2014, Vogel was an assistant principal at Bedford High before moving on to Tewksbury High in June 2014, where she served as principal for six years. She also was an adjunct professor of history at Salem State University from 2010-2014.
When not leading the school expansion charge or tending to other administrative duties, Vogel is enjoying the great outdoors -either hiking in New Hampshire or stealing a skate on the MarketStreet skating rink.
“I only have six more to go of the 4,000 footers in New Hampshire, so I hope to complete all 48 at some point,” she said. “And it’s funny, sometimes when I was coming home from Tewksbury, I’d swing by MarketStreet for a quick skate. I often wonder if they have a season pass.”
Anne Marie Tobin can be reached at [email protected].
