Waltham Public Schools Drew M. Echelson, Ed.D., Superintendent
[email protected]
July 6, 2016 Dear Waltham Community, I write to communicate the appointment of two assistant principals. Adrienne Norris will serve as the new Assistant Principal of Kennedy Middle School and Tyler Steffey will serve in the same role at McDevitt. I am excited to welcome Adrienne and Tyler to Waltham and eager to have them join our team. I know our system will benefit from their knowledge and skill and past experiences, which you can read about below. Adrienne Norris is a proud graduate of Banks Elementary School, Central Middle and Waltham High School. She is excited to return home and is honored to lead in the city that has provided so much to her. Adrienne is an experienced and accomplished math teacher and middle school math department head, mostly recently leading work in Natick (MA) Public Schools. Her references described in concrete ways the impact she had in past experiences including: Responsible for leading a program of high quality curriculum, instruction and assessment in the middle school mathematics department; monitored and supported the writing of curriculum and alignment to the Common Core; actively supported teachers to improve practice and supervised and evaluated teacher performance; presented math program(s) and curriculum to school committee, parent focus groups, and school community and guided department in designing and implementing assessment mechanisms to measure the school’s performance, among other accomplishments. Norris is a former Band Director and has a deep passion and support for integrating the arts. In fact, she sought employment in Waltham, in part, because of the city’s deep commitment to the arts. She also brings with her deep expertise and training in using technology to drive instructional improvements as a teacher and a Director. Adrienne completed her undergraduate work at University of Texas at Austin and earned graduate degrees at Cambridge and Endicott Colleges. Tyler Steffey comes to Waltham from Boston Public Schools where he most recently served as an Assistant Principal. Tyler taught on the Texas-Mexico border where he served as a TxBESS certified teacher mentor, was a member of the school’s hiring committee, and co-founded a federally recognized non-profit focused on student outdoor learning and leadership. Tyler also taught Spanish in South America before returning to his hometown of Boston to start the Spanish program at a grade 6-12 school in Dorchester. Following his six years of teaching Tyler became a Program Director for a community center embedded in the projects of Boston’s Villa Victoria neighborhood in the South End. As a Program Director, Tyler managed the daily programming for 95 1st – 8th grade students, 26 high-school counselors-in-training, 30 daily volunteers, and 10 adult staff members. Tyler holds a B.A. from Bowdoin College and an Ed. M. from Harvard Graduate School of Education. Tyler lives in Boston with his wife and their two children aged 1 and 3. He is fluent in Spanish and has travelled extensively. He most loves spending time with his family in their garden, playing pond hockey, and drinking strong coffee. I also want to congratulate McDevitt Assistant Principal Julie Lamoly. Mrs. Lamoly accepted the permanent position as Assistant Principal at McDevitt this spring! We are so lucky to have such strong school leaders in the Waltham Public Schools. Please join me in welcoming Adrienne and Tyler and congratulating Julie on their roles. Sincerely, Drew Echelson 617 Lexington Street Waltham, Massachusetts 02452-‐3099 Tel: 781-‐314-‐ 5400 Fax: 781-‐314-‐ 5411
