Mill Pond Principal Search Down to 1

Natick’s middle school vice principal is the top candidate for principal of Westborough’s Mill Pond School.

Wilson Middle School Vice Principal Suzanne Kenny will visit Mill Pond on Thursday, April 4, spending the day at the school meeting with “anyone that would like to meet her,” Westborough School Superintendent Marianne O’Connor told the Westborough School Committee on Wednesday night.

The Mill Pond School Principal Search Committee interviewed five candidates March 21. The committee narrowed the field to Kenny and Oxford Middle School Interim Principal Bennett Milliner.

The committee visited both schools Tuesday, O’Connor said.

Kenny is certified in teaching, with experience in regular and special education, and has been an administrator for nine years in Newton and Natick, O'Connor said. 

“The school that she’s presently in is very similar to Mill Pond," which houses grades four through six, O'Connor said. Wilson Middle School houses grades five through eight. Kenny is the vice principal for grades six and seven, according to the school website.

"I think that was a positive for us: the age level of the students, it’s a brand new school.”

“The final come-away for me was one of her staff members said she’s a teacher of teachers. And I think that’s exactly what we were looking for.”

Next week's visit to Westborough is important, O'Connor suggested.

“It has to be the right fit for both parties. You really need to spend a day in order to know if it’s the right fit. She’s never been in Mill Pond," she said.

Mill Pond Principal Reene Hatherley will retire this summer, ending 34 years in education, including 30 as a teacher and administrator in the Westborough public schools.