Veteran educator brings nearly 2 decades of public school leadership experience

Alexander Mathews, a veteran public school leader in Boston, will be joining the Somerville Public Schools as the next Principal of the, announced Superintendent Mary Skipper.  Mr. Mathews is in his fifth year as Principal of the Boston Public School’s Sarah Greenwood K-8 School in Dorchester, and assumes the Argenziano School leadership position beginning in July 2016. Mr. Mathews succeeds Barbara O’Brien who announced her retirement earlier this year after six years as Principal of the Argenziano School and 45 years of employment with the Somerville Public Schools.

Mr. Mathews comes to Somerville after 15 years in Boston. He brings 18 years of career experience as a senior school administrator including 12 years as a Principal in Boston and 6 years as an Assistant Principal – 3 years in Boston and 3 in Lawrence. Prior to his current position at Sarah Greenwood, he was Principal of BPS’s Gavin Middle School from 2004 to 2011.

“We had an excellent pool of candidates for this position, and are incredibly pleased that Mr. Mathews will be joining our leadership team as the next Principal of the Argenziano School,” said Superintendent Skipper. “Throughout the interview process, Mr. Mathews demonstrated an exceptional passion for public education and a keen understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities of working in an urban environment. It was clear that our whole child philosophy really resonated with him. He is a seasoned leader with nearly 12 years experience as a Principal in the Boston Public Schools, and I am confident that he will build on the great work already happening at the Argenziano. We are very excited to have him join our team as we continue to work toward providing every Somerville student with the best educational experience possible.”

“I am tremendously enthusiastic about the opportunity to serve as Principal of the Argenziano School,” stated Mr. Mathews. “Throughout the interview process, it became clear to me that the district leadership, Argenziano faculty and staff, and diverse parent community are actively engaged and are great assets in our shared mission. I am energized by the prospect of working together with such a highly motivated team to achieve results for Somerville’s children. On a personal note, my wife and I lived in Somerville for nine years, and have a strong affinity for the dynamic city of Somerville. We look forward to becoming more involved in the years to come.”

As Principal of the Sarah Greenwood School, Mr. Mathews oversees an extended day school that offers dual-language instruction in English and Spanish. The school has a diverse student enrollment of approximately 415 students, and places a strong emphasis on “supporting the whole child” as well as on data-driven instruction. Mr. Mathews holds a Master’s in Education Administration from Harvard University and a Master’s in Education from Hunter College. He earned his BA from Columbia University.

 The Somerville Public Schools follows a standard recruitment and hiring process for school administrators to ensure broad community input, that begins with focus group meetings with parents/guardians, faculty members, and members of the school’s community.  A separate and representative Screening Committee and Interview Panel are established for each position to determine the pool of applicants who best match the School’s and District’s needs.  A slate of final candidates is forwarded to the Superintendent of Schools, who makes the final hiring decision based on the Interview Panel’s recommendations, a comprehensive personal interview process, and extensive reference checks.

~Somerville Public Schools