Nicole Viele joins Waltham High School as new director of athletics

Replacing the legendary Steve LaForest as the athletic director at Waltham High School is no small task. However, it looks like the school found the perfect successor in Nicole Viele.

Viele brings a vast array of experiences in the local sports landscape. The Wheelock College graduate served in a variety of roles during her 20-year tenure in the Somerville school system, working her way up from teaching physical education to becoming the AD and an assistant principal at Somerville High School. For the last three years, Viele has managed athletics across the entire city as the Supervisor for Health and Physical Education with Somerville Public Schools.

The diversity of the Waltham High student body is one component that led Viele to apply for the opening.

“I traditionally have worked in urban districts and diverse communities,” Viele said. “One of the things that attracted me was the types of students and families that exist in the community. There is a good mix of generational families along with some immigrant families, so to me that was a big factor.”

Viele already has some roots established with the Hawks athletic department. When she first took over as the AD at Somerville High back in 2006, both schools were members of the Greater Boston League. Viele saw firsthand the strength of the Waltham teams and even considers longtime WHS athletic director Bill Foley to be one of her mentors.

“I am pretty familiar with Waltham,” Viele said. “Bill was a big part, giving the history of his experiences at Waltham.”

Viele has a clear-cut plan for her first year in office. She plans to dedicate time to learning how the Hawks department operates.

“It is really important as a first-year administrator to sit back and observe what is going on,” Viele said. “I want to see how I can best support the staff, students and families. We’ll also be looking at safety. My goals right now are to meet the coaches, just to get to know them both as leaders and educators, and then we’ll start moving into meeting teams and families once the fall season begins.”

She has already gotten the ball rolling on familiarizing herself with the Waltham coaching staff. Viele is organizing one-on-one meetings with each head coach.

“It is important for me to get to know the processes and how things are going,” Viele said. “How students are registering, how information is getting out. Are families able to sign up and understand what their experience is going to be like? Currently, just trying to make sure that all of the permits are in, game schedules are ready to go, that there is transportation and our field spaces are reserved. Making sure that these things are up to date and ready to go for the fall start is a big majority of the work.”