Waltham High School Principal To Retire

WALTHAM, MA — Waltham High School Principal Gregory DeMeo will retire at the end of the school year after 35 years as an educator.

Superintendent Drew Echelson described DeMeo's decision as difficult one.

"He has made clear to me that he intends to continue to give everything he has to Waltham High School," said Echelson in a letter to the community before thanking the administrator and pointing out his accomplishments and passion for Career Vocational Technical Education.

"I find it interesting that the rest of the state is now jumping on an idea that Greg has understood for a long time: career technical education pathways are important investments that keep so many students on a path toward graduation that prepares them for the demands of college, career and community," said Echelson.

DeMeo grew up in Waltham on Common Street and spent 13 years at Walpole High School, before he was hired as a housemaster at Waltham High School in 1996. He became director of career and technical education in 2002, and then replaced John Graceffa as principal in June 2010.

The district is planning to throw a retirement gathering for the principal, according to the letter.

"He has left an important and positive mark on Waltham Public Schools. I know I am a better Superintendent because of him," said Echelson.

Echelson said he recommend school officials appoint an interim principal for next year to afford the district time to look for a permanent principal for the 2019-20 school year.

Some of the efforts Echeleson pointed out that the educator accomplished in the past three and a half decades:

 Doubled the number of students enrolled in an Advanced Placement course and tripled the number
of AP tests our students take while outperforming state and global averages on 13 different AP
tests in 2017
 Honored by the College Board as one of only 25 districts in the Commonwealth who has worked
to significantly increase student participation in AP scores, improve outcomes on AP tests and
increase the number of students from historically underrepresented groups entering AP
coursework. This is an award the school has won for three years
 Increased the percentage of Waltham High School graduates who attend college and, for the first
time, sent a higher percentage of our students to college than the state average
 The education plan for a new Waltham High School, conceptualized by Mr. DeMeo and his team,
is now being used by the state as an exemplar for other districts that enter into the MSBA process
 Graduation rates for all students have steadily increased and dropout rates have decreased during
his tenure
 New educational opportunities have been delivered to students as a result of his leadership
including new CVTE, STEM and humanities courses that will support our students to be more
competitive in the college application process
 Leveraged several hundred thousand dollars from external partners to support the school’s core
work

More to come.

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Photo by Jenna Fisher / Patch

Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@Patch.com or on Twitter @ReporterJenna