PEABODY — Massachusetts Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler and Interim Superintendent of Lynn Public Schools Debra Ruggiero received a community impact award from North Shore Community College on Thursday morning for their work in creating the state’s first early-college high school.
When presenting the award to Tutwiler, a former Lynn Public Schools superintendent, and Ruggiero, Eastern Bank Senior Vice President Thomas Mercuro talked about how they expanded Lynn’s early college partnership with NSCC by creating the Frederick Douglas Collegiate Academy.
Tutwiler and Ruggiero, he said, are devoted to equity in education and creating systemic solutions “with multi-generational impact.” He said the two also engaged with local and state level leaders to get the funding and resources needed for the school.
For the academy, they created a new high-school model through academic curriculum, technology, staffing, and support services.
“Most importantly, they inspire students and their families to believe that a dream of college education is within reach for them,” Mercuro said. “Students from the city of Lynn now have the life changing opportunity to earn their high school degree in up to 60 college credits simultaneously at North Shore Community College, at no cost to the student and their families.”
The school opened in fall 2022 and 85 percent of its 75 students have already earned six college credits, he said.
“The FDCA is on track to grow to 400 students from grades nine to 12 by 2025, that’s incredible,” Mercuro said.
In his acceptance speech, Tutwiler said it was an honor to be at the award ceremony, and that receiving the community impact award was “so meaningful” to him. He thanked his colleagues and community partners.
He said his tenure as Lynn superintendent was challenging, but there were “really good” things that happened for students, families, and the community.
“In my humble opinion, we all decided that we were going to put previous disagreements aside, political or otherwise, and focus on what matters,” Tutwiler said. “Right now, there’s so much that I can point to that is positive and impactful in the lives of members in the Lynn community because we, and I want to underscore we, focused on what is important.”
The partnerships within the community are something that he said he is proud and grateful for.
Tutwiler said the most important lesson he learned as the superintendent was to “get out of the way” of the state’s partners at NSCC, his colleague Dr. Shannon Gardner, and Ruggiero.
Lofty goals, he said, are achievable.
“You shouldn’t be an educator, or a leader for that matter, if you don’t believe that,” Tutwiler said. “For folks in executive leadership roles, believe in your partners, believe in your team, and get out of the way.”
When Ruggiero accepted the award, she also emphasized how honored she was. She and Tutwiler connected in many ways when they first met, she said. Those include the impacts their mothers had on their lives, their passion for education, and students being at the center of their work.
“Our mothers were incredible influences in our life. As a child, I watched my mom struggle,” Ruggiero said. “I learned so many life lessons from her — never say it’s not my job, always look to work with and help others, and never see yourself better than anyone else.”
Her mother lived a traumatic life, she said, and only completed school up until eighth grade due to needing to take care of her father and siblings.
“Education was always important to her, but [she] could not move forward due to her needing to support herself and her children,” Ruggiero said. “She received her GED through North Shore Community College in 1980. It was a proud moment, she was 46 years old.”
She shared the story of her mother to show how life is “about circumstance and opportunity.”
“Sometimes circumstances impact the trajectory of someone’s future and sometimes opportunity can turn it around,” Ruggiero said.
She thanked her colleagues at NSCC and Lynn Public Schools, Gardner, her husband, her children, and her siblings.
“To my siblings and their families, thank you for taking the time to be here. Thank you for always supporting each other. And most importantly, thank you for continuing our mother’s legacy. She lives on in all of us,” Ruggiero said.
This was NSCC’s sixth annual recognition breakfast, where the college honors leaders’ dedication to higher education in the North Shore.
