E. Ethel Little School Principal Finalists

Dear North Reading Public Schools Community,

I’m very pleased to provide this update to everyone with respect to our search for the next E. Ethel Little Elementary School Principal. As recently communicated, we selected three finalists; however, one of our candidates has accepted another position and so we will be moving forward with a modified schedule.

April 1, 2025 Staff Panels Administrative Council
	Julie Sciamanna	Sarah O’Leary
3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.	Meet with Administrative Council	Meet Faculty/Staff (Library)
3:45 p.m. - 4:15 p.m.	Meet Faculty/Staff (Library)	Meet with Administrative Council

April 2, 2025 Family and Community Panels E. Ethel Little School Library & Virtual
6:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.	Sarah O’Leary
6:45 p.m. - 7:15 p.m	Julie Sciamanna

Sarah O’Leary is currently the principal of the Proctor Elementary School in Topsfield where she has been the principal since 2009. Prior to that she served as the curriculum specialist in Topsfield, Middleton, and Boxford as a part of the Tri-Town School Union for three years after teaching elementary school for more than a decade in both Topsfield and Marlborough.

Julie Sciamanna has worked in the role of Literacy Coach at North Beverly Elementary School for the past four years. Prior to that she served in the classroom as a Grade 2 teacher at North Beverly for seven years as well as four years as an elementary teacher in Lynn and Salem.

As recently communicated, there will be opportunities to meet the finalists and ask questions in a public panel.

Anyone planning to attend is asked to complete this form. These moderated sessions will be hybrid and pre-approved questions may be asked both in person and virtually of each candidate. The staff and the family/community sessions will be held in the library of the E. Ethel Little School and a link will be provided to those who register in advance for remote viewing.

Thank you for your continued support of this important process and I look forward to our next steps.

Sincerely yours,

Dr. Daly

North Reading High School Principal Update

                                                                                                January 30, 2025

Dear North Reading High School Community,

I am writing today to inform you that Dr. Miriam Meyer has accepted the offer to become the next principal of North Reading High School. Dr. Meyer is currently the assistant principal of Ayer Shirley Regional High School, a position she has held since 2018. Prior to that she served as an educational team leader (9-12) in Marlborough, MA, as a special education director (8-12) with the Hudson Public Schools, and as a school psychologist.

We are thankful to our search committee and everyone who participated in this process and provided feedback during our panels and joined us on our site visits. We arrived at a very difficult decision between our four excellent finalists who each possess tremendous leadership qualities. I am proud that we attracted such a high caliber of candidates as this is representative of the excellent opportunity that working with the students and staff at North Reading High School presents.

When meeting with Dr. Meyer’s panels of students, parents, safety officials, educators, and administrators, it became clear that she is well qualified to carry forward the school’s mission and core values and will be a great fit to work closely with Ms. Alonzo and the high school leadership team on the vision for the future of North Reading High School. 

I look forward to introducing Dr. Meyer at an upcoming school committee meeting, and she and Mr. Loprete will begin the transition work in the coming months, ahead of her July 1, 2025 start date.

Once again, thank you to everyone involved in the process and I thank you in advance for your support in a successful transition for Dr. Meyer as she joins our wonderful learning community in North Reading!

Sincerely yours,

Patrick C. Daly, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

E. Ethel Little School Principal Interview Committee

E. Ethel Little School Principal Interview Committee

In the winter/spring of 2025 the Superintendent of Schools will lead the search for the next Principal of the E. Ethel Little School. He is interested in a process that involves input from all stakeholders to support his decision in choosing the next leader of the Little School.

On the evening of January 21st at 6:30 p.m. there will be a virtual forum for parents, families, and caregivers, as well as members of the community, to provide their thoughts about the next leader of the school. 

Video call link: https://meet.google.com/fpf-quri-rmf
Or dial: ‪(US) +1 929-279-4980‬ PIN: ‪918 541 288‬#
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/fpf-quri-rmf?pin=2799999778257

There is also an opportunity for those interested to apply for selection to the interview committee. The time commitment involves several afternoons and evenings in person between 3pm - 7pm during early March (10th-14th).

In addition there will be many opportunities for providing input throughout the process, so even if you are not selected as one of the 10 committee members there will be focus groups and site visits where your questions may be asked and your input shared.

Feedback may also be provided using this link: https://forms.gle/W3byGYz2AkJjALs16 which also serves as a way to express interest in joining the search committee, which is currently being assembled for interviews that will take place in early March (10th - 14th).

 

Thank you for your contributions to this very important process.

 

Sincerely yours,

 

Patrick Daly, Superintendent

Gina Sacco, Assistant Director of Student Services for Special Education

Morgan Soares, Human Resources Administrator

 

E. Ethel Little School Principal Interview Committee Members (10)

• Superintendent

• Leadership Team Member

• Parents/Guardians/Caregivers (2)

• E. Ethel Little School Teachers (2)

• School Nurse/Psychologist/Counselor

• E. Ethel Little School Paraprofessional

• E. Ethel Little School Administrative Assistant

• School Committee Member

• 
  

Principal Search Update

 Dear North Reading Public Schools Community,

I’m very pleased to provide this update to everyone with respect to our search for the next North Reading High School Principal.

Here is the schedule for the interviews with our finalists:

January 9th Matthew LeVangie, Assistant Principal, Littleton Middle School		January 9th Caitlin Brown, Dean of Students, Newton South High School
12 pm- 12:30 pm	Meet with Administrative Council	1:12pm - 1:38 pm	Meet with Students
12:36 pm - 1:02 pm	Meet with Students	1:45 pm - 2:15 pm	Meet with Administrative Council
3:15 pm - 3: 45pm	Meet Faculty/Staff	4:00 pm - 4:30 pm	Meet Faculty/Staff
6:00 pm - 6:45 pm	Meet Families/ Community	7:00 pm - 7:45 pm	Meet Families/ Community

January 16th  Miriam Meyer, Assistant Principal, Ayer Shirley High School		January 16th  BarriAnn Alonzo, Assistant Principal, North Reading High School
12 pm- 12:30 pm	Meet with Administrative Council	1:12pm - 1:38 pm	Meet with Students
12:36 pm - 1:02 pm	Meet with Students	1:45 pm - 2:15 pm	Meet with Administrative Council
3:15 pm - 3: 45pm	Meet Faculty/Staff	4:00 pm - 4:30 pm	Meet Faculty/Staff
6:00 pm - 6:45 pm	Meet Families/ Community	7:00 pm - 7:45 pm	Meet Families/ Community

Parents, families, caregivers, and community members who are interested in participating in the finalist panels should save the dates of Thursday, January 9, 2025 and Thursday, January 16, 2025 from 6pm to 8pm for these important sessions and complete this form no later than January 6, 2025. These moderated sessions will be hybrid and pre-approved questions may be asked both in person and virtually of each candidate. The family/community sessions will be held in the library/media center of North Reading Middle/High School.

About the Finalists:

BarriAnn Alonzo has been the assistant principal of North Reading high school since July of 2022. Her prior experience includes more than a decade as an assistant principal in the Lawrence public schools and twelve years as a world languages teacher of grades 7-12 and varsity coach. 

Caitlin Brown currently serves as the dean of students at Newton South high school. Her prior administrative experience includes serving as the principal and assistant principal of Andover high school. In addition, she has spent seven years as an athletic director and classroom educator 9-12.

Matthew LeVangie began his career as a high school educator before spending over a decade as a middle school special education teacher and interim assistant principal in Framingham, Massachusetts. He has served as the assistant principal of Littleton middle school since 2020 and has coached at the collegiate level.

Miriam Meyer is currently the assistant principal of Ayer Shirley Regional high school, a position she has held since 2018. Prior to that she served as an educational team leader (9-12) in Marlborough, MA, as a special education director (8-12) with the Hudson Public Schools, and as a school psychologist.

Thank you for your continued support of this important process and I look forward to our next steps.

Sincerely yours,

​Dr. Daly

                                                                                                              December 20, 2024

Dear North Reading Public Schools Community,

I’m very pleased to provide this update to everyone with respect to our search for the next North Reading High School Principal. We interviewed nine excellent candidates and have narrowed our search to the following four finalists:

BarriAnn Alonzo, Assistant Principal, North Reading High School

Caitlin Brown, Dean of Students, Newton South High School

Matthew LeVangie, Assistant Principal, Littleton Middle School

Miriam Meyer, Assistant Principal, Ayer Shirley High School

Additional information about each candidate will be shared ahead of the next phase of our search in early January.

We look forward to the next steps in this process which will include opportunities for students, the leadership team, faculty & staff, and families & community to meet the candidates and ask questions.

Please save the dates of Thursday, January 9, 2025 and Thursday, January 16, 2025 for these important sessions. More detailed information is shared below.

Families and community members who are interested in participating in the process should complete this form no later than January 6, 2025. These moderated sessions will be hybrid and pre-approved questions will be asked both in person and virtually of each candidate. Please save the dates and times below.(Faculty/Staff who are unable to attend the afternoon sessions are welcome to join the evening sessions.)

Participants are strongly encouraged to attend sessions with all four candidates and to provide feedback to the Superintendent in the following days through a format that will be shared at that time.

Tentative Schedule for January 9th and January 16th, 2025

Candidate A, January 9th Candidate C, January 16th		Candidate B, January 9th Candidate D, January 16th
12 pm- 12:30 pm	Meet with AC	1:12pm - 1:38 pm	Meet with Students
12:36 pm - 1:02 pm	Meet with Students	1:45 pm - 2:15 pm	Meet with AC
3:15 pm - 3: 45pm	Meet Faculty/Staff	4:00 pm - 4:30 pm	Meet Faculty/Staff
6:00 pm - 6:45 pm	Meet Families/ Community	7:00 pm - 7:45 pm	Meet Families/ Community

Additionally, the Superintendent and other members of the administrative council will visit the candidates’ schools for a site visit in January before the Superintendent selects the finalist.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our interview committee members who represented various stakeholders in our school community and provided so much of their valuable time, careful consideration, and feedback to guide me in selecting our finalists. 

Mark Bisognano     North Reading High School Paraprofessional

                Cynthia Conant Director of Student Services

Patrick Daly     Superintendent

                Elena DeAngelis North Reading Public Schools Parent

Jeff Friedman       North Reading School Committee

                Andrea Gagnon North Reading High School Educator

                Cathy O’Connell North Reading Middle School Principal

                Ben Owens North Reading High School Educator

                Ali Pepe         North Reading High School Educator

                Jacqueline Rogers North Reading High School Adjustment Counselor

Karen Tsang North Reading High School Administrative Assistant

                Jonathan Wisco North Reading Public Schools Parent

I would also like to thank our student greeters, Benjamin Russell, Sofia Saldanha, and Shenaya Verma and our Administrator of Human Resources, Morgan Soares, for their assistance and input with the interview process. 

Please let me know if you have any questions and have a wonderful holiday season!

Sincerely yours,

Patrick C. Daly, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools