UPDATE: New Malcolm White Principal Chosen

Friday, 10:40 a.m.—Eric Stark has been named the new principal of Malcolm White Elementary School, said Superintendent Mark Donovan in a statement Friday morning. 

Stark will meet with parents and faculty over the summer, before the new school year begins in September.

Donovan said Friday that Stark is "very passionate about education and the importance of meeting the needs of children. Secondly, he is a problem solver."

Friday, 10:20 a.m.—A new principal is close to being chosen for the —maybe as soon as the end of this week.

A search committee has narrowed the field to two finalists, according to school Supt. Mark Donovan:  Jennifer Arnold, an assistant principal of a kindergarten-through-grade-eight elementary school in Oak Bluffs and Eric Stark, a second grade teacher and assistant to the principal at an elementary school in Westwood.

“Members of the Search Committee visited both candidates and talked with staff members and parents from each school,” according to an entry on the superintendent’s blog dated Thursday, June 23.

The committee “had its final discussion” this past Tuesday, Donovan wrote.

Now it’s up to Donovan to “complete the process,” he wrote. “Hopefully, we’ll have an official announcement by the end of the week.”

“The Search Committee, made up of parents, staff members, and school administrators, interviewed seven candidates,” Donovan wrote.

The committee felt it had "an excellent pool of candidates for this important position," according to Donovan.

The committee is searching for a new principal for the White School because Principal , succeeding Barbara Henry, who retired. Roketenetz technically will start his new job July 1, he told Woburn Patch early this month.

The search committee received 17 or 18 applications for the principalship, Donovan told Woburn Patch. A call to Donovan was placed Friday morning inquiring about a decision. 

Stay with Woburn Patch for more details, as they become available.