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Search Results for: director of diversity

Wellesley schools Director of Diversity: the search continues

July 11, 2019 by Deborah Brown 2 Comments

Wellesley Public Schools officesThe Wellesley Public Schools has re-opened its search for a Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. In May 2019, the field had been narrowed to three finalists, but none of those candidates has been hired for the position. Funding for the new job was approved by Town Meeting in March, and Superintendent Dr. David Lussier informed the Wellesley School Committee that he hoped to appoint a director by the end of the recently completed school year.

According to the job listing for the Director of Diversity, some of the responsibilities will include formulating a strategic plan to support district diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; deepen community awareness, understanding, and respect for diversity, equity and inclusion; oversee the METCO program; and work collaboratively with the A Better Chance program. You can see the complete listing here (and please let WPS know that you heard about it on Swellesley if you apply).

The initial search yielded three candidates:

  • Dr. Roland Davis, a consultant with college and high school administrative experience. He served at Harvard as Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, but stepped down after one year for personal reasons, according to the Harvard Crimson.
  • Kimberlee Henry, an administrator whose most recently listed job on her resume was that of school principal in Oxford, Massachusetts. According to Worcester news source telegram.com, Henry was in October 2018 put on paid leave from that position.
  • Wellesley High School Social Studies teacher Jackie Katz, who was one of the speakers at May’s WHS graduation ceremonies.

You can see their cover letters and resumes here.

Davis in an email said, “I was offered the position with WPS but declined it because I was also offered a position with an educational non-profit in the area and elected to accept this position instead.”

Katz in an email said that she was not offered the position.

It is unknown at this time whether Katz or Henry was offered the job.

Superintendent Lussier said in an email, “Our search is still ongoing for a Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.” He had nothing further to add regarding whether the job had been offered to any of the candidates.

The Wellesley community had opportunities to meet and comment on each of the candidates during afternoon and evening meetings in late May.

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Filed Under: Education, METCO, Town Meeting, Wellesley High School

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Wellesley Public Schools narrows Director of Diversity field to 3

May 29, 2019 by Bob Brown 2 Comments

The Wellesley Public Schools system has 3 finalists for its new Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion position, funding for which was approved during Town Meeting.

The candidates include a current Wellesley High teacher, a consultant with college and high school administrative experience, and an administrator who has served as a principal and assistant principal in western Massachusetts.

An initial notification about the candidates didn’t include their names and offered up only daytime meetings. But an updated memo issued by the schools’ human resources director revealed the candidates’ names and added nighttime opportunities for members of the community to meet the candidates:

Jackie Katz              May 29, 2019:  3:15 – 3:45 pm     WMS Auditorium

June 03, 2019:  6:00 – 6:30 pm     WMS Cafeteria

Roland Davis           May 30, 2019:   3:15 – 3:45 pm     WMS Auditorium

May 30, 2019:   6:00 – 6:30 pm     WMS Cafeteria

Kimberlee Henry     May 31, 2019:  3:15 – 3:45 pm      WMS Auditorium

June 04, 2019:  6:00 – 6:30 pm     WMS Cafeteria

Below are the candidates’ backgrounds:

Download (PDF, 261KB)

Download (PDF, 194KB)

Download (PDF, 502KB)

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Filed Under: Education

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Wellesley Public Schools Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Director leaving for state job

March 22, 2022 by Deborah Brown

Dr. Charmie Curry, Wellesley
Dr. Charmie Curry

The Wellesley Public School system’s first director of diversity, equity & inclusion, Dr. Charmie Curry, is leaving her position effective next month, Curry announced in a letter to families. Appointed in September 2019, Curry previously served numerous roles in the Boston Public Schools system as a teacher and principal, and had experience working at organizations focused on teacher development and leadership.

During her tenure, her responsibilities included formulating a strategic plan to support district diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; deepening community awareness, understanding, and respect for diversity, equity and inclusion; overseeing the METCO program; and working with the A Better Chance program.

During an update to the School Committee last year, Curry identified the need for a town-wide commitment to dismantling inequity as a major goal of her office, noting that studies show Black and Hispanic students are three to four times more likely to be identified for certain learning disabilities.

“When we talk about equity, student outcomes and experiences are not correlated with race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, ability, or other identity markers,” Curry said in the meeting. “Currently in our district we do have some outcomes that are predicated by these identity markers, and we need this not to be the case.”

Looking back

In an email to The Swellesley Report, Curry reflected on her time in Wellesley saying, “…the opportunity to steward the WPS’s equity work was an attractive venture because I knew that in this role, I would deepen my leadership expertise, I would be challenged, and I would be able to make a lasting impact on behalf of students. The work of pursuing educational equity has always been deeply personal to me because it is rooted in a vocational call toward justice. So for me, this has and will always be life work. It’s that deep in my bones.

“It is a great joy for me to look back on the three short years I’ve been in Wellesley, and see the immense progress my colleagues and I accomplished together—building educator capacity to be leaders of equity work in their schools; instituting a bias incident procedure as a proactive measure to address incidents of bias in our schools; holding space to listen to our most vulnerable and marginalized students; bringing Isabel Wilkerson to our community. I lived into the power of “we”, and was able to elevate our district’s collective practice toward becoming a more culturally sustaining institution. Though in an office of one, I in no way worked alone. I am humbled by the partnerships I cultivated in order to see our equity work come alive—Wellesley Education Foundation, World of Wellesley, Panorama, the list could go on… I am so proud of our student body. In three years, I have seen young people mobilize to be fierce advocates for educational equity. They have spoken up, exhibiting such vulnerability in sharing their stories. A few of them have even run for public office in the Town—what an incredible affirmation of how students are building capacity to be change makers, and the impact of exposing them to issues of diversity, equity and inclusion. They have truly been the bright lights who have kept me focused on such important, life-changing work.

“I am grateful to the Town for getting to know me as an individual, and for providing opportunities for me to bring people together, and to facilitate important conversations within the community. I am leaving the Wellesley Public Schools in a stronger position to continue its equity journey, and for that I am beaming with pride and joy. This same energy will carry me into my new role at DESE.

Looking forward

Here is Dr. Curry’s letter to the WPS community:

Dear WPS Families,

I am reaching out to share that I have accepted the role of Associate Commissioner at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. I provided my letter of resignation to the superintendent and school committee chair on March 18th. My last day in WPS will be 4/1.

As Associate Commissioner, I will oversee DESE’s Statewide Systems for Student Support. In this new role, I will lead several teams that provide direct support to schools and districts across the Commonwealth that have been identified by the accountability system as requiring assistance or intervention, among other supports. Coincidentally, WPS has been a beneficiary of the work of this office as it has received  resources and expertise that have enhanced systemic approaches to the district’s equity work, through multi-year academies, grants, and technical assistance. This work extends my deep passion for and commitment to equity, especially in service to some of our most marginalized students and communities in the Commonwealth. There is no question that our work in Wellesley Public Schools has prepared me for this next chapter.

I met some of you in September 2019 as I embarked on an ambitious entry plan, spending time with many community members such as the town clerk and police chief. Some of you met me personally at the Central Office; others I met at PTO meetings or at other district events such as the last WEF Spelling Bee before the pandemic. In my three years here, you have supported the district’s equity work, and you have supported me personally; you have challenged me when necessary to rethink or reframe positions; you have made me a more effective, culturally responsive leader.

Thank you for entrusting me with stewardship of the district’s equity efforts. I have sincerely appreciated your commitment, even in the most challenging of times. You have given me the opportunity to impact the lives of our most precious constituents – our students! I remain grateful for your partnership.

With gratitude,

Dr. Charmie Curry



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Filed Under: Education, Embracing diversity

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Wellesley schools diversity director seeking to shape hearts

November 8, 2019 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Dr. Charmie Curry, Wellesley Public Schools’ first and new director of diversity, equity and inclusion, has been on the job for a couple of months now. She sat down with Wellesley comms director Stephanie Hawkinson to discuss her role and goals, the benefits of mixing it up in terms of who you eat and meet with, and the many meetings with community members that she has already had.

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Filed Under: Education

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Wellesley Public Schools system taps Dr. Charmie Curry as diversity director

August 28, 2019 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Dr. Charmie Curry
Dr. Charmie Curry, WPS director of diversity, equity and inclusion

The Wellesley Public School System has appointed Dr. Charmie Curry as its first director of diversity, equity and inclusion , effective Sept. 16. She has served numerous roles in the Boston Public Schools system as a teacher and principal, and has worked at organizations focused on teacher development and leadership.

She also started off her higher education path with a journalism degree from Temple University, so we give her points for that.

Wellesley had recently narrowed a large pool of applicants to 4 finalists, who had a chance to field questions from and meet the community. In her cover letter to the school system, Dr. Curry described the Wellesley job as a “challenging, yet rewarding opportunity.”

Town Meeting approved funding for the new job in March. According to the job listing, responsibilities include formulating a strategic plan to support district diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; deepening community awareness, understanding, and respect for diversity, equity and inclusion; overseeing the METCO program; and working with the A Better Chance program.

WPS Superintendent Dr. David Lussier thanked staff and community for their participation throughout the selection process.

The interview team included:

Emmanuel Bernardo, WHS student
Bill Craft, guidance counselor
Joan Dabrowski, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning
Effa Fouda, WHS student
Jenn Hannon, ESL teacher
Yasmine Jaffier-Williams, WHS student
KC Kato, town clerk
Betsy Komjathy, parent
Sadhana Mandala, WHS student
Gayle McCracken, sirector of human resources
Tinea Rochelle, Co-President, Friends of Wellesley METCO
Rachel Saphire, associate rabbi, Temple Beth Elohim
Doreen Ward, METCO director

More: Wellesley community gathers to kick of school year

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Filed Under: Education

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Wellesley Public Schools intros diversity director candidates this week

August 20, 2019 by admin Leave a Comment

Wellesley Middle SchoolThe Wellesley Public Schools system this week is giving the public an opportunity to meet 4 finalists for the new Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion position. The job listing was re-opened over the summer after the first round of finalists this past spring did not produce a hire.

The director’s responsibilities will include formulating a strategic plan to support district diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; deepen community awareness, understanding, and respect for diversity, equity and inclusion; oversee the METCO program; and work collaboratively with the A Better Chance program.

Each of the 4 new candidates will spend one-half day in the district to meet the staff, students, parents, guardians and community members.  The public is invited to attend the following meetings to be held at the Wellesley Middle School auditorium.

We encourage you to check out the cover letters and resumes linked via the candidates’ names below. The candidates have diverse backgrounds and impressive credentials. But be forewarned that not all of it is pretty. Typos, grammatical errors, and one mysterious bit of experience about a job that runs from “Oct 2019 – Present.” While I wouldn’t be psyched about having my cover letters go public, I might suggest that those who do apply for jobs that require this hit up a writing expert.

Aug. 21,  8-9am – Rachel Deleveaux

Aug. 21, 1-2pm  – Jabian Gutierrez

Aug. 22, 9-10am – Melissa Patrick

Aug. 22, 1-2pm – Charmie Curry

A light breakfast will be served from 8-9am.

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Filed Under: Education

Schofield Elementary School Principal Martinez a finalist for Framingham schools’ equity & diversity job

December 14, 2021 by Bob Brown 3 Comments

Update (12/17/21): Martinez is also one of three finalists for the superintendent’s job at Dover-Sherborn Public Schools.

Update (12/20/21): Martinez was not selected for the Framingham job.

Gerardo Martinez, principal of Wellesley’s Schofield Elementary School since 2011, is one of two finalists for Framingham Public Schools’ Assistant Superintendent for Equity, Diversity, and Community Engagement job.

The search has been on since September, and is down to Martinez and Tiffany Lillie, currently the director of dommunity resource development for Framingham Public Schools. 

Gerardo MartinezThe public is invited to a ‘Meet the Candidates’ online forum on Tuesday, Dec. 14  from 6 – 7:10pm. Each candidate will have 30 minutes to offer an introduction to the community, as well as to answer attendee-submitted questions. (Webinar link & Passcode 395687).

 

Martinez has six years of teaching experience and 21 years of administrative experience. Before Schofield, he held principal positions in Brookline and Boston Public Schools. 

On Martinez’s principal’s page on the Schofield website, it starts off: “It is my pleasure to be embarking on year 10 as Schofield’s principal and I cannot imagine being anywhere else!!”

He’s now started to imagine.

Wellesley Public Schools has had some serious stability at its principal positions in recent years. The last new one was Grant Smith last year at Hardy.


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Filed Under: Education, Schofield Elementary School

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