Anna Nolin Appointed as New Superintendent

As interim superintendent Kathy Smith steps down, the community welcomes Anna Nolin and her goals for the future of NPS

By Forest Lanciloti, Kiril Zhdanov and Andrew Feinberg

could connect quickly, and communicate clearly with energy and care. For that reason, I think what they want and what I can provide are a good match.”

NPS is currently ranked ninth on the list of Massachusetts public schools, but Nolin said that one of her goals is to climb to the top.

“[NPS] will be the best school system anywhere in this nation. at is what I want: number one in the number one state for education,” she said.

Ward Eight School Committee member Cove Davis said that the process of hiring a superintendent was more meaningful than just nding someone to ll the position.

“It was a chance to hire a new superintendent, but also to have an opportunity to talk to the whole community,” she said.

Davis said the superintendent search committee sent out a survey to the Newton community asking what values, communication skills and leadership type they wanted in their next superintendent.

“Some people got interviewed, like School Committee members, principals, central o ce,” she said.“Initial focus groups and surveys formed this leadership pro le that we came up with, based on feedback from the community about what was important to them.”

Ward ree School Committee member Anping Shen said that the survey’s results were very helpful in the search.

“[ ere were] a lot of common themes like vision and values, teaching and learning, community engagement and management. ey all think these are very important qualities for the future leader,” he said. “With these survey results … in our mind, we could make our determination to see which candidate hit our preferred leadership pro le best.”

Junior and student representative on the search committee Phoebe Anthony said that the survey enabled di erent voices to be heard around the community.

“Because the survey was so broad and available to anyone who could take it, it pretty much covered all the di erent communities and di erent identities.”

Smith said that as the budget continues to be a major issue for the district, she hopes matters will improve in the future.

“I am concerned about the present state of the budget, but I am very hopeful that we will nd our way forward with a sustainable budget and build it back over time.”

Despite concerns, Smith said she is condent in both the district and Nolin’s ability to improve NPS.

“Looking back, it's been a challenge, but I've had people by my side all the way. I feel you've had great collaboration and wonderful teams here, and I'm very hopeful for Dr. Nolin in the future.”