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Home > Breaking News - MassLive.com > Northampton
Northampton schools schedule interview for 4 superintendent candidates
Published: Saturday, June 11, 2011, 12:00 PM
Fred Contrada, The Republican By Fred Contrada, The Republican The Republican
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Northampton High School, exteriorThe Republican / File photoNorthampton High School
NORTHAMPTON – The four finalists for the school superintendent job are ready for their close-ups as they prepare to visit Northampton for interviews with the School Committee.
William E. Collins, Ruth Miller, Irwin H. Sussman and Brian Salzer were chosen from a pool of 23 applicants as candidates to replace Isabelina Rodriguez, who left the superintendent’s job in January to head the Granby school system. William Erickson has been filling in for Rodriguez on an interim basis. The advertised salary range for the job is $122,000-$140,000 a year.
The School Committee had settled on two finalists in March but had to start the process over when it learned that one of them, Daniel J. Hanneken, was not the principal of a Marlborough middle school, as his resume indicated. Hanneken had been removed from the post a few months before. Sussman, the other finalist, was chosen again this time around. The committee will interview two candidates on June 17 and two on June 20 at the John F. Kennedy Middle School. Those sessions will be open to the public.
Sussman, 63, has been the superintendent of the Hadley-Luzerne School District in upstate New York for nine years and served as principal of the high school there for 12 years before that. In addition to the Northampton position, he is currently a candidate for a superintendent job in New Hampshire and a teaching position at Cornell University. Sussman, who goes by his basketball name “Earl,” hopes to move to Massachusetts so his wife can be closer to her family in Boston.
“I continue to be very enthusiastic about serving as the superintendent of the Northampton schools,” he said, adding that he would commit to the job for at least ten years.
Sussman, who describes himself as a team-builder, said his passion for education is founded in having grown up with a stutter.
“I try to assist all students in trying to achieve,” he said.
Collins, 46, is in his seventh year as principal of the William E. Norris School in Southampton. About to earn his doctorate in education leadership from Boston College, Collins said he looks at the Northampton job as a natural progression in his career.
“This is the job I want,” he said. “We want to stay in the Valley and we love the quality of life.”
Collins said he plans to listen and learn about Northampton’s goals and needs before he maps out a plan for leading the system, but feels one of his strengths is unifying administration and staff.
“I want to put a great public face on the schools,” he said.
Miller, 54,, taught business, economics and Web design before starting out on an administrative career that has taken her to New Hampshire, Gloucester and, currently, the Narragansett Regional School District in Templeton, where she is assistant superintendent. She has two daughters who are special education teachers and a third who is about to graduate from college.
“Now I’m on my own and can choose where I want to live and work,” she said, adding that she has a special love for Western Massachusetts and Northampton. In fact, Miller had already planned at camping trip at the DAR State Forest before she got the call that she is a finalist.
Salzer, 43, was the principal of Swampscott High School before Marblehead hired him away as its school district business manager last year, a move that created some tension between the two North Shore towns.
“It wasn’t the smoothest transition,” he acknowledged,
In March, Salzer became acting superintendent in Marblehead and has been doing both jobs ever since. He is penciled in for one of the June 20 sessions.
“I’m really excited,” he said. “The community’s a great fit, we love that area and there are a lot of very talented teachers there.”
Salzer would be leaving a high-achieving school district in Marblehead, where the community, he said, has been very supportive of education. A long-distance runner who completed his first marathon last month, Salzer hopes to be pounding the streets of Northampton in sneakers should he win the superintendent job.
Related topics: northampton, northampton-school-superintendent, northampton-superintendent
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Home > Breaking News - MassLive.com > Northampton
Northampton schools schedule interview for 4 superintendent candidates
Published: Saturday, June 11, 2011, 12:00 PM
Fred Contrada, The Republican By Fred Contrada, The Republican The Republican
Follow
0
Share close
Google Buzz Digg Stumble Upon Fark
Share Email Print
Northampton High School, exteriorThe Republican / File photoNorthampton High School
NORTHAMPTON – The four finalists for the school superintendent job are ready for their close-ups as they prepare to visit Northampton for interviews with the School Committee.
William E. Collins, Ruth Miller, Irwin H. Sussman and Brian Salzer were chosen from a pool of 23 applicants as candidates to replace Isabelina Rodriguez, who left the superintendent’s job in January to head the Granby school system. William Erickson has been filling in for Rodriguez on an interim basis. The advertised salary range for the job is $122,000-$140,000 a year.
The School Committee had settled on two finalists in March but had to start the process over when it learned that one of them, Daniel J. Hanneken, was not the principal of a Marlborough middle school, as his resume indicated. Hanneken had been removed from the post a few months before. Sussman, the other finalist, was chosen again this time around. The committee will interview two candidates on June 17 and two on June 20 at the John F. Kennedy Middle School. Those sessions will be open to the public.
Sussman, 63, has been the superintendent of the Hadley-Luzerne School District in upstate New York for nine years and served as principal of the high school there for 12 years before that. In addition to the Northampton position, he is currently a candidate for a superintendent job in New Hampshire and a teaching position at Cornell University. Sussman, who goes by his basketball name “Earl,” hopes to move to Massachusetts so his wife can be closer to her family in Boston.
“I continue to be very enthusiastic about serving as the superintendent of the Northampton schools,” he said, adding that he would commit to the job for at least ten years.
Sussman, who describes himself as a team-builder, said his passion for education is founded in having grown up with a stutter.
“I try to assist all students in trying to achieve,” he said.
Collins, 46, is in his seventh year as principal of the William E. Norris School in Southampton. About to earn his doctorate in education leadership from Boston College, Collins said he looks at the Northampton job as a natural progression in his career.
“This is the job I want,” he said. “We want to stay in the Valley and we love the quality of life.”
Collins said he plans to listen and learn about Northampton’s goals and needs before he maps out a plan for leading the system, but feels one of his strengths is unifying administration and staff.
“I want to put a great public face on the schools,” he said.
Miller, 54,, taught business, economics and Web design before starting out on an administrative career that has taken her to New Hampshire, Gloucester and, currently, the Narragansett Regional School District in Templeton, where she is assistant superintendent. She has two daughters who are special education teachers and a third who is about to graduate from college.
“Now I’m on my own and can choose where I want to live and work,” she said, adding that she has a special love for Western Massachusetts and Northampton. In fact, Miller had already planned at camping trip at the DAR State Forest before she got the call that she is a finalist.
Salzer, 43, was the principal of Swampscott High School before Marblehead hired him away as its school district business manager last year, a move that created some tension between the two North Shore towns.
“It wasn’t the smoothest transition,” he acknowledged,
In March, Salzer became acting superintendent in Marblehead and has been doing both jobs ever since. He is penciled in for one of the June 20 sessions.
“I’m really excited,” he said. “The community’s a great fit, we love that area and there are a lot of very talented teachers there.”
Salzer would be leaving a high-achieving school district in Marblehead, where the community, he said, has been very supportive of education. A long-distance runner who completed his first marathon last month, Salzer hopes to be pounding the streets of Northampton in sneakers should he win the superintendent job.
Related topics: northampton, northampton-school-superintendent, northampton-superintendent
Sponsored Links
Subscribe to The Republican today and get incredible savings off home delivery! Subscribe Now | Press Pass
© 2011 MassLive LLC. All Rights Reserved. About Us. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement. Please read our Privacy Policy.
Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Contact interactivity management.
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