Newton Public Schools Hires New District Leaders

The Office of the Superintendent of schools would like to announce the following leadership changes within the central office team. These role revisions seek to address key areas in need of strengthening revealed through the new superintendent entry planning process: systematic student support needs in academics and student mental health, increasing district transparency and engagement and partnership with families and caregivers in the work of the district, and increased support to our educators in the area of professional development.

These educators join a dynamic central office team and we look forward to working together to serve Newton’s students.

Christina Maryland, Director of Communications and Family Engagement

Christina will be taking on a redesigned role within the district, combining communications with family and community engagement and support. This enhanced position, evolving from the former communications specialist role, aims to fortify our mission to provide families with the resources, training, and information they need to be strong, supportive advocates for their children. The Office of Communications and Family Engagement is dedicated to developing distinct strategies that engage and amplify the needs of all families, ensuring inclusivity for everyone, not just those with readily available resources and voices.
Christina brings a wealth of experience as a PR strategist and engagement leader, having served the City of Boston, public schools, and the MA Trial Court System. She has a proven track record of guiding cross-functional teams to achieve significant organizational goals, with a strong emphasis on driving systemic transformation in equity and access.

Passionate about supporting educational leaders, Christina excels at aligning vision and aspirations with concrete actions to benefit students and families. She is adept at implementing policies and practices that remove barriers, enhance access, and establish sustainable and equitable practices for all stakeholders. Her contributions to senior management teams have been instrumental in leading strategic visioning, planning, and executing communications and equity initiatives to meet our goals.

Christina's commitment to improving experiences for historically marginalized groups, including the disabled community and those with language access needs, underscores her dedication to fostering a more inclusive and fair environment for everyone. We are thrilled to welcome Christina and look forward to the positive impact she will bring to our district.

District communications will be further enhanced by participation in a communications collaborative for districts and school superintendents called Leading Now. Dr. Nolin has been a participating fellow in their education program for two years and the state MA Superintendent Association has endorsed the group to support MA districts as they engage their communities and seek to become more and more effective in district communications.

Dr. Maria Kolbe, Director of Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS)
Dr. Kolbe will be the incoming Director of Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), a new position within the Teaching and Learning department. She joined Newton Public Schools in 2012 as a special educator, over time shifting to the elementary support and stabilization program and then support of the elementary SEL department. She has most recently provided MTSS coaching and support at the elementary level within NPS, facilitating data-driven improvement efforts. Dr. Kolbe received her doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 2022, where she researched the impact of an MTSS framework on increasing inclusive educational experiences for high-support-need students.

In speaking about the Director of MTSS position, Dr. Kolbe shared, “My time in Newton has shown me the tremendous dedication and skill of our educators, across all roles. Looking ahead, I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to partner with schools in removing structural barriers to student success, in service to creating the equitable, successful environments that our educators are so committed to actualizing”. The Director of MTSS position was created in response to the growing complexity of student presentation across our schools, requiring increased attention to the structures and systems that support student learning. The work of a school becoming a multi-tiered system of support creates the conditions for rigorous, inclusive, and joyful learning environments where all students thrive.

Jennifer Shore, Director of Special Initiatives/K-8 Math Coordinator
A long-time curriculum leader in the district, Jennifer Shore is shifting the work she will do as K-8 Math Coordinator and Director of Special Initiatives. Since 2021, Jennifer Shore has filled both of these roles which allowed the district to maximize use of COVID relief funds to assist in learning loss recovery. Additionally, her role required her to lead around The Calculus Project, Title 1 Programming, and Home Education Plan supervision.

With the district’s need and desire to focus on more rigorous training and programming related to academic content and mastery, NPS is excited to share that Jennifer’s role related to Special Initiatives and Programs will shift to a focus on professional development for the district. This involves collaborating with teachers, school administrators and district administrators to develop and facilitate a three year Professional Development plan that supports our collective vision.
Initial considerations include:

• Designing ongoing and systematic professional development to serve all of our educators and roles
• Exploring ways to streamline providing professional development to grade level and departmental teams in a job embedded manner
• Aligning professional development with Portrait of a Graduate/Profile of a Learner work to inform the direction and goals of the district’s future strategic plan including:

• Multi-Tiered Systems of Support training, differentiated by level.
• Use of benchmark assessments and coordinated skill interventions K-8
• K-12 Leadership support of our internal curriculum audit and associated professional development in curriculum review, design, and alignment.

“I am looking forward to collaborating with colleagues to develop a plan for providing NPS educators with PD that will support both the district goals and their individual goals,” Shore shared.