Finalists for Waltham High School principal share visions for school’s future at parent forum

The finalists for the Waltham High School principal position answered questions about their visions and plans for the school Monday night at a forum for parents and guardians.

The candidates, who were revealed by the school district Thursday, are Donavan Tracey Jr., an administrator at a high school in Rhode Island; Courtney Gosselin, a principal at a K-8 school in Somerville; and Mike Sabin, a Boston Public Schools executive and the former principal of Waltham’s McDevitt Middle School.

Katherine Peretz, administrator of human resources for Waltham Public Schools and head of the principal search committee, moderated the virtual forum. The candidates were brought into a breakout room one at a time and asked the same questions.

Each candidate had 20 minutes to answer the questions and at the same time give their pitch on why they should be the next principal. 

Afterward, they moved to a separate forum for staff, which was closed to the public. 

The candidates did not have any interaction with one another throughout the process.

The questions, submitted in advance by parents and guardians, covered a range of topics: what they would change about the school if they had a magic wand, how they would deal with phones in the classroom, and how they would work to improve the academic performance of the school.

Other questions touched on issues like transparency and discipline.

When asked about their vision for the school, the three candidates’ answers had common themes.

Tracey said he wanted to make the school more welcoming, encouraging students and teachers to stay by increasing staff and parent involvement in the decision-making process.

“For me,” he said, “a vision of school is one where students are excited about learning and they get to be heard and understood.” 

Gosselin’s vision focused on creating a more welcoming community for students, encouraging them to grow through a challenging curriculum, and increasing involvement in extracurricular activities.

“In my perfect high school every student would have an extracurricular that they’re really passionate about, and that they would want to attend beyond the school day,” she said.

Sabin said he would primarily focus on transparency, adding that he would want to create a school where students felt supported and challenged.

“It’s not really about my vision for the school, but it’s about the students’ vision,” he said. “It’s about the family and the community’s vision and the staff’s vision.”

Asked how they support both high-achieving and struggling students, all three candidates talked about meeting students where they are academically.

“One very important thing in the classroom is that everyone cannot be expected to always do the exact same thing,” Sabin said. “There has to be differentiation. Supporting every student and challenging every student is difficult for the staff, but it is possible. And so I think that needs to be a focus of professional learning and of the way that instruction is delivered.”

Tracey agreed but mentioned that data collection was critical.

“It’s very important that we are looking at the data and classrooms and communicating with families often about where each student is in their journey in order to move the student to where they need to be academically,” he said.

Gosselin added that it was crucial to use discipline as an opportunity to teach students.

“How are we teaching students how to make better choices?” she said. “How are we getting to the root cause of why students chose that particular action, even though it was not the right one? And how are we supporting them to move forward with that?”

All three candidates expressed similar goals of increasing transparency and working to incorporate cellphones into the learning environment instead of just banning them.

They also all agreed that discipline must begin with setting expectations and recognizing that students need to understand the rules, values and culture of the school in order to meet those expectations. 

Peretz said the search committee will email a form to parents and guardians soliciting their feedback on the candidates. Superintendent Marisa Mendonsa will analyze the responses, which will factor into the hiring decision.

Darrell Braggs, the current principal, announced his decision to step down at the end of the school year last December. No reason was given for his departure, and neither Braggs nor Mendonsa responded to questions from The Waltham Times.

This story is part of a partnership between The Waltham Times and the Boston University Department of Journalism.