Appointment of Assistant Superintendent
After
careful consideration of the final candidates for the position of
Assistant Superintendent, I recommended and the School Committee
appointed Ms. Emilys Peña
to the position. I would like to thank the 14-person Screening
Committee for moving forward three exceptional candidates, all of whom
could easily be successful in this role.
Ms. Peña brings
to Watertown great experience having served in the role of Assistant
Superintendent for the past three years in Malden. Prior to Malden, she
spent 20+ years in the Boston Public Schools serving in various
leadership roles with experience in ESL, language and literacy, and
special education. She
brings insights from outside of PreK-12 education serving as a
consultant for Urban Matters and SchoolWorks. She is fluent in English,
Spanish, and ASL and is conversant in Portuguese. I am confident that Ms. Peña will be a great partner and leader as we continue our excellent work here in Watertown.
It became clear that Ms. Peña
has a deep belief that all students can and will be successful and that
her core values align very well with our values of excellence, equity,
and community. She eloquently described this in the Core Qualifications
section of her resume:
“I
am a visionary educational leader with a strong commitment to
championing culturally responsive pedagogies, fostering safe and
continuous learning environments, and cultivating equitable K-12
settings for all students. My expertise in student-centered instruction,
standards-aligned, high-quality instructional materials, and program
and systems development ensures that I tailor the educational experience
to the unique needs of each student....... I actively engage in
promoting shared power among staff, students, and families to redefine
schools as spaces of equity and excellence.”
Ms. Peña will be joining us as of July 1 and will spend several days in the district before
her start date to get to know our community and learn more about WPS as
she prepares for her entry. I look forward to learning and leading with Emilys for many years to come.
Dede Galdston, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools