February 13, 2016

Dear North Community:

It has been a great pleasure to work with various stakeholders in the North community on the principal search process. The members of the community involved in the process did a terrific job throughout the entire search and I am grateful for their commitment to ensuring that the school would find a highly capable leader. I’m also thankful to the students, faculty and parents who asked such thoughtful questions of our finalists.

Over the past week North was privileged to have the opportunity to meet two excellent finalist candidates. After a very thorough review, I have appointed Henry Turner, principal of Bedford High School, as the next principal of Newton North.

Throughout the search, Henry impressed us with his outstanding record as a high school principal, his experience in meeting the needs of a diverse range of students, and his ability to work successfully in a collaborative manner. He is a highly knowledgeable instructional leader with a keen understanding of teaching and learning.  At the same time, he is deeply committed to the social and emotional well- being of students and recognizes the importance of building upon the promising initiatives that are underway.

Henry has a demonstrated record of leadership that is inclusive and fair.  As a principal, he has not been afraid to tackle complicated challenges or have courageous conversations.  I expect you will find him to be an excellent listener who appreciates the value of hearing a diverse range of opinions.  In sum, I believe he has the leadership capacity to make an excellent school even better.

Henry previously served as a housemaster at Newton South and expressed his enthusiasm about the possibility of returning to Newton throughout the search.   He has great respect and appreciation for the history of excellence at Newton North and is excited to work with a talented leadership team and a skilled and dedicated faculty.

Prior to his principal position in Bedford, and housemaster role at Newton South, Henry was a history teacher at Lexington High School. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts, he has a master’s degree from Framingham State College, and earned his doctorate from Boston College.

I do want to recognize the outstanding leadership that Mark Aronson has provided to North over the past year. His thoughtfulness and wisdom has been most appreciated and we are so fortunate to have him as the interim principal.

I am very much looking forward to having Henry join our leadership team. He will officially begin his position on July 1, 2016. I know that Mark will work closely with Henry to make the transition seamless.

Sincerely,

David Fleishman

Superintendent of Schools

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