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30th April 2007

Principal shares thoughts before retiring

posted in Education |

Below is a letter, dated April 11, from Pamela Simpkins, retiring principal at the McAuliffe elementary school. A graduate of Harvard, Tufts, and the University of Massachusetts at Boston, Ms. Simpkins has been a principal in the Lowell Public Schools for 18 years. She has graciously given us permission to post her letter: 

Dear Parents and Friends, 

I am very happy to report that Dr. Baehr, superintendent of schools, has announced that the McAulifee School’s current assistant principal, Jason DiCarlo, will become the new principal of the McAuliffe after my retirement in June. I’m looking forward to retirement—being able to sleep late, taking a walk in the sunshine whenever I want, having time to read and write and take art lessons, having time to try out new recipes, having more time to spend with my husband and daughter—but in a way I envy Jason.

You see, I’m very excited about what’s happening at the McAuliffe and other Lowell schools, and I wish I could be a part of their future. I think the programs we are using now to teach reading and math and social interactions are fantastic, and I can see that good things are happening. The McAuliffe students seem smarter to me than they did a few years ago. They seem more reflective, more articulate, and more confident. They seem to understand and believe that if they make the effort, they will achieve. (My daughter Katya, who is now a sophomore at Lowell High, attended the McAuliffe School, and I am sorry that during those years, the programs we are using now were not available.) Staff members seem more confident too, as if they know they have the right tools to help students, and, if they don’t, they know they can work together to find them. Things we talked about doing for years, we’re doing—things like using data to inform instruction, peer coaching, and developing a volunteers-as-tutors program. Don’t get me wrong. We still have a long way to go. If the measurement of success is MCAS scores, we’re not going to have a legion of reporters beating down our doors to ask how we did it. But the quality of teaching and learning is rising, and it’s clear to me that the momentum is there to continue the excitement, to continue the rise. 

Recently an article in the Boston Sunday Globe Magazine named Lowell as one of the five hot places in the Boston area’s housing market. It stated that although the Lowell special education program excels, the schools are considered troubled by some and suggested that parents might consider Dracut or a parochial school as an alternative. I disagree. The Lowell schools are excellent. I’m not putting down any neighboring systems or private schools, yet I know most of them are jealous of the resources we have—the new schools, the amount of professional development, the teachers who are dedicated to working with challenging students. We should not be scaring parents who care about their children’s education away from buying in Lowell; we should be encouraging them to do so. The staff at each of our schools is determined to do whatever it takes to educate all our students to a high level. The more students we get whose parents are also committed to high level education, the easier it will be to meet that goal. Success breeds success. High expectations and effort breed high achievement. 

I’ve been the principal of the S. Christa McAuliffe School since it opened in 1993. I’ve been here through happy times and sad times, through dramas I would gladly have done without and through laughter I would not give up for anything. I’ve been privileged to know hundreds of exceptional children—children with shining spirits lighting up their eyes, their smiles, their hearts and minds. I’ve met caring parents who would do anything to help their children and their children’s school. I’ve worked with teachers, specialists and paraprofessionals who have amazed me by their dedication and commitment, who come in each day determined to give their all to their students, even when the going gets rough. (And, believe me, sometimes it feels very rough.) I’ve been blessed with parent liaisons, volunteers and support staff who greet everyone with sincere kindness and will always go the extra mile if it will help a child or a parent. And I’ve been surrounded and supported by other Lowell administrators struggling together to improve our capacity to provide a quality learning experience for children growing up in an increasingly challenging society. For all of this, I am profoundly thankful. 

Symbolically, principals are often seen as the mother or father figure of their schools. So in some ways, it feels to me like leaving the McAuliffe is giving up my baby for adoption. However, I have the joy of knowing that the school is being put into the right hands. I am absolutely sure that Jason DiCarlo is the very best person for the job. In the words of the McAuliffe School Pledge, I know that he will be a “wonderful, unique and magical” principal. I wish him and all of you the very best. Sincerely, Pamela Simpkins, Principal

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