Arlington's Bishop School Principal Eying Ottoson Principal Job

ARLINGTON, MA — Ottoson Middle School is closer to having a permanent principal this week, the superintendent's office announced Monday, as the School Committee and search group narrowed down the candidates to four finalists. Included in the list are two current assistant principals and two current heads of schools, including the current principal at Bishop Middle School and another candidate who once taught at Ottoson for a decade.

The finalists will visit Ottoson Middle Schools and a team from Arlington Public Schools will visit the finalists’ current schools this month.

The school has been helmed by Eileen Woods since Timothy Ruggere who had been principal for eight years, left to take a position as principal at Triton Regional High School in Byfield in 2016.

Superintendent Kathleen Bodie called the group of finalists "strong candidates," and invited members from the public to hear from them at the end of the month in a public meeting on January 24, from 6 p.m. to -9 p.m. in the Ottoson Middle School Media Center.

parents and community members are invited to hear from all four finalists.

According to a press release the four finalists are:

• Elizabeth Golden has been the assistant principal of the Collins Middle School in Salem for 10 years. She'll visit Ottoson on Jan. 10. Her prior work was as a special education/history teacher at Lynn Public Schools’ English High School. She also worked in Lynn’s Welcoming Alternative Schools as a middle school special education teacher. Prior to that she was a middle school special education teacher at the Manville School in Boston, part of the Judge Baker Children’s Center.
• Donna Martin, has been the assistant principal of the McCarthy Middle School in Chelmsford for nine years. She will visit Ottoson on Jan. 8. She was the secondary level Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator in the Chelmsford Public Schools for three years before taking her current position. From 1993 through 2006 she worked in the Arlington Public Schools, for 10 years at Ottoson as a social studies teacher, and for two years at Arlington High School, also as a social studies teacher.
• Mark McAneny has been the principal of the Bishop Elementary School in Arlington for six years. McAneny will visit Ottoson on Jan. 11. He was previously the Assistant Principal at Newman Elementary School in Needham, and was a grade three and four teacher at the Amos A. Lawrence School in Brookline starting in 2002. His prior work experience includes service in the US Marine Corps and in private business.
• Brian Meringer has been the assistant headmaster of the Dover Sherborn Middle School since 2013. Meringer will visit Ottoson on Jan. 16. Previously he was a Housemaster in the middle school in Norwood Public Schools. From 2002 through 2008 he was a sixth grade social studies and literacy/language arts teacher in the Wellesley Middle School, where he also completed his administrative internship. He previously taught social studies in the middle school in the Concord and Rockport Public Schools.

Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch