School Committee approves new assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction

A new assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction is coming to Waltham from Worcester.

The School Committee at its Wednesday night meeting approved Shannon Conley’s candidacy for the position.

Conley emerged on top of a group of eight candidates over the course of two interviews with a search committee and a task performance assessment.

On Monday Conley toured Waltham’s new high school, visited some of the city’s other schools, met with educators and held an open forum. 

Following Conley’s visit on Monday, Superintendent Marisa Mendonsa brought her candidacy to the School Committee.

The position manages a wide swath of curricular development, including the new MCAS graduation requirements and a revised model for the Integrated I math course.

Conley is currently the executive director of the south quadrant for Worcester Public Schools where she oversees 15 schools. She began her career teaching middle school English in Worcester. She later became a literacy coach, assistant principal and then principal.

Conley takes over for Sarah Kent effective June 30.

At Wednesday’s meeting Mendonsa thanked Kent, who resigned earlier this year, for her work and support.

“I personally appreciated the support she’s shown me during my first year and helping to onboard me in this role,” Mendonsa said.

In other action, the School Committee

• approved Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy’s proposal to place signs prohibiting food and drink at the auditorium at the new high school at 554 Lexington St.
• heard additional information about the proposed fiscal 2026 budget. School Committee member James Zanghi asked Chad Mazza, the school district’s assistant superintendent for finance and operations, for more information about the budgetary plan should federal funding go away. Mazza said that the district receives more than $4 million, which pays for more than 30 positions. Mazza assured the School Committee that school officials have heard from other cities that Waltham should be safe. “But we haven’t been given anything definitive,” he said, “so we are creating contingency plans just in case.” The School Committee will vote on the FY26 budget on May 7.
• approved a $5,110 donation to support Waltham’s athletic teams.
• heard updates from Mendonsa about new parking spaces at Northeast Elementary School. Construction will begin on Friday to remove some traffic islands around the lot. The work, which is anticipated to finish over April break next week, will add up to 19 parking spaces to the lot.
• heard that Waltham Partnership for Youth awarded Valor High School with the 2025 Community Impact Award. Mendonsa said that “WPY has chosen to recognize Valor for the critical role it provides to youth in our community, for the many ways in which it exemplifies WPY’s core values of belonging, collaboration, compassion, courageous honesty and a youth-centered approach.”