NAHANT — Effective July 1, 2024, Tony Pierantozzi will leave his eight-year post as superintendent of schools. As the Superintendent Search Committee works to find the most qualified candidate to take his place before the 2024-25 school year, results from a community-reaching survey shed light on the particular qualities residents hope to see in their new district leader.
The School Committee, alongside representatives from the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, launched the survey last month. According to School Committee Chair Patty Karras, who also chairs the Superintendent Search Committee, the 26 responses — mainly from Johnson School parents and teachers — included common opinions on issues such as class size, community relations, and staff retention.
“Overwhelmingly, responses were centered around keeping the class sizes small, the importance of continuing to interact with the local community, such as the Historical Society, and taking advantage of having Northeastern’s Marine Science Center in Nahant,” Karras said.
Karras said survey respondents also wanted a superintendent who could bolster the Johnson School’s relationship with Swampscott Public Schools, aligning the districts’ curricula and professional development opportunities for a more robust inter-district learning strategy.
Residents, Karras added, widely responded that Nahant’s next Superintendent of Schools has experience working in a leadership role at the elementary school level and shows a proclivity toward educational leadership in a small community.
“It’s really important to our community that there is a strong leader that’s in place — one that has experience with elementary school students is ideal. Connection to families and to the community is very important. And, of course, the ability to work with parents and teachers in the community,” Karras said. “We’re looking for a candidate that really values collaboration and teamwork — that came up over and over again (in the survey) — and that has the ability to build positive relationships with staff and the community and other educational leaders.”
Although Karras said the Superintendent Search Committee has already received a handful of resumes, those who wish to apply for the position have until Dec. 21 to submit their applications.
In January, the search committee will meet with candidates privately for the first wave of interviews. The Superintendent Search Committee will then present a refined list of prospective candidates to the School Committee, which will further refine the candidate pool through a series of public interviews.
With a plan to hire a candidate in the spring, the school district is expected to have a new superintendent before the 2024-2025 school year.
“It was felt very strongly by the community that our schools are the best in the Commonwealth, and it is a great school, but how can we make it even better?” Karras said.
