'Building That Trust': New Danvers Superintendent Dan Bauer Eyes Positive Future

DANVERS, MA — Dan Bauer is starting his first year as the first new full-time Danvers superintendent in nearly two years on a bit of a listening tour.

The former Marblehead High School principal, who was chosen as the district's new superintendent in January, told Patch on Wednesday that this stage of his "entry plan" in Danvers will involve visiting schools and hearing input from students and staff before he begins to bring some ideas for potential directional shifts to the School Committee this winter.

"Coming in as a new superintendent it's important to follow an entry plan to get to know everybody and develop relationships," he told Patch. "I want to get to know some of the great things that are happening here and then some areas that need to be addressed.

"It's important to build that trust to start. The worst thing you can do is come in with a lot of big changes before creating that sense of collaboration."

Bauer becomes the first full-time superintendent to start a school year in Danvers since Lisa Dana went on an extended medical leave in December 2021. She said about four months later that she would not be returning to the position and it would be open as of last August.

Assistant Superintendent Mary Wermers served as co-acting superintendent, and then sole acting superintendent, for the previous 18 months before Bauer took to his new position in July.

"Mary did a great job and continues to do a great job," Bauer said. "She's invaluable to the district. The ability to have an assistant superintendent and be working together is huge. It's a very big job."

Bauer said part of that job is to better promote the many positive things going on in the district while continuing to build off the culture improvements that became a priority in the wake of a series of racist graffiti incidents across the schools and the town and a high-profile hazing incident from 2020 that embroiled the school community and superintendent's office in conflict and investigations for the better part of two years.

"My feeling is that we can only go forward," he said. "Obviously, being able to take lessons from the past sounds corny but that's true as well. You have to do that by developing trust and the way to do that is developing relationships.

"One of the themes that we had, and continue to have, is enhancing that sense of belonging. The more the schools can be connected and students can be connected with the school community the more that enhances their future. It's also the adults and how they feel about their belonging in the schools and the town. That all goes together."

Bauer credited Danvers High Principal Adam Federico and incoming Holten Richmond Middle School Principal Adam Colantuoni for promoting that culture and connection that he believes will lead to higher retention rates among students and better trust among students and families.

"What does that sense of that belonging mean and how do we bring it into the classroom so
in those student-to-student relationships they feel safe and secure?" he said. "That's always part of the basis of learning."

He added that some of the student population declines in recent years, which are consistent statewide and could be attributed to COVID-19, are showing signs of improving with the district's emphasis on the connection between the middle school and high school, and career and advanced academic training at the high school, keys to extending that trend.

He also cited the district's strong educator retention rate as a place where it can build from a position of strength.

"There are a lot of great things that happen here but if people don't always hear about those things they are left with more of a perception of some of the other things that were out there," he said. "We are looking at what are all the good things that are being done and areas where we can enhance."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)