Finalists will participate in public interviews beginning February 6; School Committee seeks to select new Superintendent by March 2023

The Somerville Public School District is one step closer to hiring a new Superintendent following the announcement last night of three finalists for the open position. At a special meeting on January 30, the Somerville School Committee’s Superintendent Search Screening Subcommittee announced that it has narrowed the pool of 27 applicants down to three finalists:

• Kevin McCaskill, Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Schools, Boston Public Schools
• Marisa Mendonsa, Deputy Superintendent, Pittsfield Public Schools
• Jannell D. Pearson-Campbell, Interim Superintendent, Northampton Public Schools

Additional information about each candidate can be found below and at www.somerville.k12.ma.us/superintendent-search.

Each candidate will visit SPS during the week of February 6, to tour school facilities and meet with educators, families, and community members before participating in final interviews with the full School Committee. School Committee interviews will be held in person in the City Hall Chambers and will be broadcast on local EdTV channels. As part of the site visits, members of the SPS community will have the opportunity to meet each candidate during a short public Town Hall-style meeting.

Details are being developed, however community members will have the opportunity to submit questions for candidates to answer during the public sessions as time allows. For updates please visit www.somerville.k12.ma.us/superintendent-search where information will be shared as available. Public meetings will be held on Monday, February 6, Tuesday, February 7, and Wednesday, February 8. One candidate will attend a meeting each day, followed by School Committee interviews each evening.

“With 27 applicants vying to become Somerville’s next Superintendent of Schools, we had a fantastic pool of candidates from which to apply the Candidate Profile that the SPS helped our subcommittee to create. Ultimately, through a lot of hard work and with very careful consideration, our Screening Subcommittee narrowed the applicant pool to these three stellar candidates and I could not be more thrilled to finally share this news with the Somerville community,” said Emily Ackman, Ward 1 School Committee member and Chair of the Screening Subcommittee. “Each of these individuals brings significant experience in public schools from across Massachusetts, and would be incredible assets to the Somerville Public Schools. I look forward to learning more about the candidates and welcoming them here to the district next week.”

“I’m so proud and excited to finally be able to share the culmination of months of hard work by the Screening Subcommittee and to congratulate the three finalists. Both the Screening Subcommittee and the School Committee as a whole have been committed to finding the best possible candidates who best meet the values and needs of our diverse school district,” said Andre Green, Chair of the Somerville School Committee. “These three finalists are exemplary individuals and we’re thrilled to welcome them to Somerville for the next part of this public process.”

The search for a new Superintendent of Schools in SPS was launched in summer 2022, following former Superintendent Mary Skipper’s selection as the Superintendent of the Boston Public Schools. The Somerville School Committee hired the Massachusetts Association of School Committees to help manage the search process and convened a nine-member Screening Subcommittee in November, which included representatives from the School Committee, SPS educators, administrators, and community members. The Screening Committee interviewed 10 candidates from the pool of 27 applicants before advancing three finalists for the second and final round of interviews.

About the Finalists

Kevin McCaskill began his career as a teacher in Springfield in 1988, rising to become Principal of Putnam Vocational High School for six years. McCaskill subsequently was Director of Secondary Schools and Operations in Hartford for five years. Following his role in Hartford, he began working with Boston Public Schools where he served as Executive Director of Madison Park Vocational High School and, in 2021, as Assistant Superintendent in the office of secondary schools. McCaskill is currently also involved as the central office support administrator at one of Boston’s pilot schools. McCaskill, who resides in Boston, earned a BA in Mathematics at Western New England College and an Med from Westfield State College. In addition, he earned an advanced credential as Education Specialist-Educational Administration from UMass Amherst. (SPS Site Visit & Interview: Tuesday, February 7^th)

Marisa Mendonsa is the Deputy Superintendent of the Pittsfield Public Schools. Prior to taking the position in 2021, Mendonsa spent six years as a principal at Mohawk Trail Regional High School and three years at the Duggan Middle School in Springfield, serving as Assistant Principal and Principal. Born and raised in Massachusetts, Mendonsa’s career began as a teacher in North Carolina. In Massachusetts, she has worked in the Amherst, Northborough, and Springfield school districts. Mendonsa earned a BS in History from Springfield College, an MEd and CAGS at UMass Amherst, and an EdD in Education Policy and Leadership at American University in Washington, DC. (SPS Site Visit & Interview: Wednesday, February 8th)

 Jannell D. Pearson-Campbell is currently the Interim Superintendent in Northampton. Dr. Pearson-Campbell’s career has included work as a science teacher and as a special educator in Framingham and Boston. She then took  administrative posts as Assistance Principal for STEM and as principal at Hanover’s Middle School. Dr. Pearson-Campbell also served as a Turnaround Principal in New Bedford before going to Waltham as the Assistant Director of Special Education and to the Old Rochester Regional district as Assistant Superintendent. Dr. Pearson-Campbell, who resides in Easton, has a BS in Health Information Management from Florida A&M University, an MEd from UMass Boston, a CSGs with a specialty in Special Education Administration from Bridgewater State University, and an EdD in Educational Leadership from UMass Lowell. (SPS Site Visit & Interview: Monday, February 6th)