Superintendent Bill Lupini announced today that Deborah Holman, vice principal of Newton North High School, and Jamie Chisum, interim principal of Wellesley Middle School, are the two finalists in the search for the next headmaster.
According to newtonteacherresidency.org, Holman has taught history at Newton North High School, English and history at The International Schools of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and has taught for one year at the International School Bangkok, Thailand.
Chisum was formerly the assistant principal of Wellesley Middle School for the past five years and taught English at the school for seven years, according to a boston.com article. He currently fills former principal Josh Frank’s role as the interim principal.
Sophomore Lia Lankford, a member of the interview team, felt her feedback regarding the candidates was taken seriously by other members while serving on the team.
“It was actually really cool because I never get to be in an environment where my opinion is as valued as much as an adult,” said Lankford.
Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, Angela Allen, declined to comment and referred all questions to Lupini. Lupini could not be reached for comment.
Lupini sent out an email to high school teachers detailing the search.
Dear Brookline High School Colleagues:
During the weeks of January 9th and January 17th, the Brookline High School Headmaster Interview Team met with eleven (11) outstanding candidates for this important position. Each candidate met with two separate teams to answer questions derived from issues identified through our parent, staff and student surveys and focus group results, as well as in the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) self-study.
The Brookline parents, students, teachers, administrators and system administrators who took part in these interviews did amazing work on your behalf and they deserve our thanks for their efforts and participation.
After participating in the interviews, reviewing the feedback forms from members of our Interview Teams, and conducting additional reference checks, I am very pleased to name Jamie Chisum and Deborah Holman as finalists for the Headmaster position at Brookline High School.
Jamie Chisum currently serves as Principal of Wellesley Middle School, after having completed five (5) years as Assistant Principal at Wellesley High School. His experiences at the high school included serving on the School Building Impact Advisory Committee (charged with transitioning people and places during the planning phase of the Wellesley High School building project), working with the NEASC steering committee in anticipation of the 2008 visit, development of the Culture and Climate Committee, and helping to reinstitute the Crisis Response Team. In addition, Jamie also has extensive experience as an English teacher at Taconic High School (Pittsfield) from 1994-1999 and at Wellesley High School from 1999-2006. Mr. Chisum’s colleagues describe him as “an intent listener and learner who recognizes the importance of shared leadership and hearing from multiple voices.” In addition to his various academic interests, Jamie has also been a very successful track coach, having been named Coach of the Year in 2005 (Girls Spring Season) and 2006 (Boys Spring Season). Mr. Chisum holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and Philosophy from Brandeis University, a Master of Secondary Education in English Education from the University of Massachusetts (Boston), and is currently enrolled in the Doctoral Program (Educational Leadership) at Boston College.
Deborah Holman has served as Vice Principal at Newton North High School since 2008 and recently was the Acting Principal (November, 2011) during the Principal’s leave. In her present role, Ms. Holman has worked with others to address achievement gaps, particularly through the Legacy Scholars Program for African American students and in identifying strategies for students with special needs. Deborah has been a Social Studies teacher at Newton North since 1996, and has also served as an Instructor in the Newton Teacher Residency Program and as the Project Coordinator for the school’s Small Learning Communities Grant (2003-2006). She has also taught in the Social Studies Department at the InternationalSchool Bangkok in Thailand (2006-2007) and in the Humanities Department at the International School of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia (1991-1994). Her colleagues report that she is a “creative and collaborative leader who is committed to creating professional learning communities” at Newton North. Ms. Holman holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Studio Art from Wellesley College and a Master of Arts in History from Boston College.
I am thrilled to be able to bring these two tremendous candidates to the finalist stage of our search process. We are currently arranging opportunities for both Mr. Chisum and Ms. Holman to visit Brookline High School and meet with staff and parents in “open forum” settings. In addition, I will be meeting with each of the finalists and taking a smallvisiting team to both Wellesley Middle School and Newton North High School for a site visit. More details on each of these finalist events will be forthcoming in the next few days.
I’m looking forward to seeing you at our public meetings with the finalists.
Thanks,
Bill Lupini
Click here to check out our recent article on the search for the school’s new Headmaster.
