West Roxbury Resident to be Principal at Woburn Elementary School

The day after school ended for most students in Woburn,  headed into the school administrative offices.

Stark, a West Roxbury resident, will officially start work here July 1, Friday, as principal of the . The new principal met Tuesday morning with school Supt. Mark Donovan and spoke briefly with Woburn Patch.

The two administrators are planning for Stark to meet with Malcolm White students and parents before school starts, but don’t have a date yet, Donovan said. They’re working on a transition plan since Malcolm White principal . Roketenetz succeeds Barbara Henry, who retired.

The new White School principal started his education career in Westwood five years ago, at the Downey School. He taught first, second and third grades and served as an assistant to the principal there.  The school population did not warrant an assistant principal, he said.

In selecting Stark, Donovan pointed to his passion for education, creativity and problem-solving skills.

Stark chose a career in education because he wanted “to collaborate for students’ success,” and for all students “to succeed at a high level.”

On the creative side, he used Skype in a global project, he explained Tuesday, for second-graders.  Parents could lead trips to countries around the world, Stark elaborated, and students communicated via Skype with a child in Africa. Stark took the basic idea of the trip from a colleague, he said, and expanded it.

As a problem solver, Stark said he identified  “unsafe behavior” on a school playground at recess and developed some ideas on how to improve the situation. He looked at the need to “adjust staff” during that time, he said and to “develop expectations” for students’ behavior “that aligned with (the school’s) core values.”  As a result of those changes, teachers, parents and the school nurse all noticed improvement, the West Roxbury resident said.

Stark also worked with the principal of his school to do “mini-observations” of students in their classrooms, more than may be typical, he said, to get to know the students better.

The newest Woburn principal holds a master’s degree in educational leadership from Bridgewater State University, formerly Bridgewater State College, and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the State University of New York at Potsdam.

Beyond officially starting a new job in July, Stark has another July date circled on his calendar:  July 29. That’s the date when he and his fiancée, Jennifer Gillis, also a teacher, who has just completed a long-term assignment as a second grade substitute teacher, will be married.