March 10, 2021
Dear Newton South Community:
Two weeks ago, the Selection Advisory Committee (SAC) consisting of educators, parents/guardians and students interviewed candidates for the principal position. After thoughtful deliberations, the SAC recommended candidates to be semi-finalists. Last week, the semi-finalist candidates interviewed with district and Newton South administrators as well as the Newton North principal. Candidates were asked to share their observations from classroom visits and reflect on a range of educational and leadership issues and scenarios.
After deliberating on the semi-finalist interviews and consulting with the SAC, I am delighted to let you know that we have a finalist for the principal position. Our finalist candidate is Tamara Stras who is currently an assistant principal at Haverhill High School. Previously, Tammy was the science department head at Lawrence High School where she also served as acting assistant principal. She was also a science teacher in Lawrence where she taught AP and other levels of Biology and Chemistry. She has a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Zoology from St Xavier’s College (Mumbai, India), and a master’s degree from Boston College in secondary education with a concentration in Biology. Tammy is currently a fellow at the Lynch Leadership Academy at Boston College.
The final step in this process is for Tammy to spend a full day at Newton South. Next Tuesday, March 16, she will have the opportunity to meet with a range of stakeholders in the community throughout the day, including faculty and staff, parents/guardians, students and Newton district and South administrators. We are offering an open meeting for South families to meet the candidate at 5:45 p.m. on Tuesday, March 16. The link for the meeting is here: https://newton-k12-ma-us.
Those who attend the session will have the opportunity to hear about Tammy’s vision for the school and to ask questions. While we only have one finalist at this time, the candidate will be measured against the same high standards that we have for all the principal candidates in Newton. Please know that we have had just one finalist in several of our recent principal searches.
We hope you can join us on March 16 at 5:45 p.m.
Sincerely,
David Fleishman
Superintendent of Schools
