Essex North Shore Superintendent's Contract Extended Through 2029

DANVERS, MA — Essex North Shore Superintendent Heidi Riccio reached an agreement on a three-year contract extension that will keep her in the district through July 2029.

Essex North Shore School Committee Chair Mark Strout announced the extension at Thursday night's meeting.

Strout told Patch that Riccio was specifically commended for her ensuring that the instructional practices in all settings reflect high expectations regarding content and quality of effort and work, engage all students, and are personalized to accommodate diverse learning styles, needs, interests and levels of readiness.

Strout also praised Riccio's work with the leadership team, labor union, nonunion and contractual staff, students and families toward a positive school culture.

Essex North Shore recently reached an agreement with the Hathorne Teachers Union on a contract through the 2025-26 school year after a year-long, and at times contentious, negotiation.

The Hathorne Teachers Federation said the union reached a deal that includes raises of between 12 and 15 percent over four school years and calls on the district to provide support to teachers that have high student loads, and increased preparation time and compensation to offset the increased class loads.

Strout also lauded Riccio for securing "tens of millions of dollars in competitive grants" and for being the "catalyst behind the South Campus renovation project, as well as the building of the Catherine Larkin Memorial Cottage."

"Riccio has received accolades from the entire school committee for her accomplishments thus far," Strout said.

(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.)