Director of Special Education & Pupil Personnel Services Selected
I am
pleased to announce that Ms. Amy Scolaro has been named Director of Special
Education & Pupil Personnel Services pending successful negotiations. The
position is open due to the upcoming retirement of Dr. Susan Dupuis, who has
been in that role for the past 14 years.
For
the past six years, Ms. Scolaro has been principal at the South River School
and prior to that she served five years as a principal in the Abington school
district. Before becoming an administrator, she taught for sixteen years,
with a focus on special education at the elementary level.
Ms.
Scolaro graduated with a B.S. in Special Education from Bridgewater State
College. She also earned a Masters Degree in Education from Harvard
University as well as a Masters in Education Administration from Eastern
Nazarene College.
In
her time in Marshfield, Ms. Scolaro has been a dynamic leader who works hard to
develop a strong relationship with her students, staff, and SRS families.
She has played a prominent role in the development and growth of the
Language Based Learning Center, which is housed at South River School. In
addition she has worked hard to develop Response to Intervention (RTI) strategies
and enhanced the impact of the Student Teacher Assistance Team (STAT) to
better ensure that the needs of all students are met. She played a key
role in the development of the district’s current Strategic Plan and has served
on a variety of committees throughout the district. Most recently, she
worked closely with Dr. Dupuis throughout the district’s recently completed
Coordinated Program Review (CPR) process, where Marshfield’s practices around
special education, civil rights, English Language Learners, McKinney-Vento
homeless and vocational learning were assessed by the Department of Elementary
& Secondary Education (DESE).
In
her time at SRS, Ms. Scolaro has repeatedly shared one very important message
with her staff: “We believe all kids can learn...and we will work to
help ALL students achieve high standards of learning.”
Prior
to selecting Ms. Scolaro, a search committee headed by Assistant Superintendent
Ellen Martin and consisting of parents, teachers, district administrators, and
a school committee member reviewed all who applied for the position. They chose
six candidates to interview and from that group they recommended two as
finalists to meet with the Superintendent. After meeting with the
Superintendent, each candidate also met with the district’s leadership team.
I want to thank each of the search committee members for their hard work
and attention to detail over the past month as they reviewed each of the seventeen
candidates from across the Commonwealth who applied for this position.
Ms.
Scolaro will have an opportunity meet with the School Committee and will begin
her new role on July 1.
