Superintendent Dede Galdston introduced the School Committee to two new assistant principals and an administrator who will focus on using technology in education.
The new assistant principals will be working at Watertown Middle School and Lowell Elementary School, while the district also filled the administrative position is known as the Coordinator of Digital Learning and Libraries.
The middle school’s new assistant principal, Susan Carle, is returning to the area after working in the Midwest. She has been the assistant principal at Northwest Middle School in Chicago since 2016, Galdston said. Prior to that she was an instructional support leader and resident principal. Carle also taught and was mathematics teacher facilitator at the elementary school level.
Carle said she is excited to be returning to the area, having grown up in Medford. She liked what she heard about the Watertown schools, especially the commitment to equity.
“I know it is going to be an amazing place to be, at Watertown Middle,” Carle said. “But, also with the support of all of you and the community I am really looking forward to a new year in-person, and really making school a joyful and fun place to be again, as well as maintaining our rigorous standards, of course.”
Carle received her bachelor’s degree in child development from Tufts University and her master’s in education at Boston College.
Qi Chen comes to the Lowell after getting his masters in education leadership from the Harvard School of Education. Prior to that, he worked in Hawaii, where was known as a “committed educator who believes in every students’ potential to succeed in a rigorous academic environment,” Galdston said.
He also worked to build partnerships with educators, families, community organizations, businesses and governments to achieve ambitious outcomes for students from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences.
Chen said he was impressed at the improvement he saw in Watertown’s MCAS results over the past three years in math and literacy as the district became more diverse.
“I am super excited to be part of the momentum, and I look forward to working with (Principal) Stacy (Phelan) and the entire Lowell team to keep that going,” Chen said.
Susan Bisson, the Coordinator of Digital Learning and Libraries, started her career in technology. She worked in technical design at IBM in Cambridge, and as a senior designer at IXL. She moved into education and has worked for the last 12 years in the Arlington Public Schools, including as the Director of Digital Learning since 2018.
Galdston said Bisson’s references commented about her “wisdom in integrating education technology and creating solutions with staff in the public school setting.”
Bisson said she shares some of the values of the Watertown Schools.
“There were two things that really struck me about the Watertown Public Schools when I was doing my research, learning more about the district,” Bisson said. “One is your commitment to diversity, which is really quite similar to what we are doing in Arlington and I am very interested and excited to continue on with that work. The other is you description as being a district that is committed to continuous change. It really sums up what my passion and commitment is to education and integrating digital learning tools into teaching and learning.”
I would like to know why Bisson is leaving the Arlington school system. Was this her choice or Arlington’s? What did she accomplish there?
I’d be more interested in an answer if the “concerned resident” had the decency to give their real name.
By not using a real name makes me even more interested.