Jeffrey Mulqueen was a high school science teacher in 1980. As a young educator, he inspired his students to exceed beyond their own expectations to not only learn science, but to become lifelong learners. But deep down, he also felt he could help unleash the collective power of great teachers who had the desire and capacity to shape the minds of students and redirect their lives in positive ways.
Early in his career, he began his journey to work toward advanced degrees and doctoral work while delivering leadership in numerous administration positions. Those positions ran the gamut of public school administration and encompassed roles such as assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent and the most recent position as the chief academic officer of the Worcester Public Schools.
His appointment as superintendent of Pentucket Regional Schools is the beginning of an exciting chapter in his life and our district, too. His career spans 30 years, and it doesn't appear to be approaching a sunset phase anytime soon.
Dr. Mulqeen's interests and areas of strength are varied. He has secured competitive sources of private, state and federal funding to support educational initiatives in Worcester. He has led the Worcester system to develop and implement the Race to The Top application, resulting in an award of approximately $8,600,000.
He has also led the effort to transform several schools into Innovation Schools, aligned with Gov. Patrick's legislation to help create a new an independent version of charter schools. What is exciting about the Innovation Schools concept is that there are elements that could possibly align well with our district, as there is a focus on creating autonomy and responsibility for teachers and principals. Importantly, with his fiscal acumen, he has been a reliable partner in the administrative team's focus to deliver a budget that enforces the value proposition that a school budget should in order to win support in the community.
Collaboration has become a popular buzz word in educational circles, but Dr. Mulqueen embodies it well because he operated in a school system with 44 schools, 24,000 students and a $300,000,000 budget — roughly all data to a factor of 7 compared to Pentucket.
He is a passionate advocate for students and has a core desire to inspire them to acquire 21st century skills by leveraging both foundation learning and technology-based learning. He is aware of the importance of motivating teachers and inspiring them to be exceptional so that the learning environments they create foster conditions where student achievement flourishes.
For Pentucket, this is a moment for reflection. Our district has transitioned from a marginally performing district to a high-performing one. Standardized assessments have continually improved, student achievement flourishes by many measures, and it has been exciting to witness many achievements in the arts, sports, community service and improving patterns of college eligibility for graduates. In some critical areas, substantial progress and outright eradication of problems have transpired, such as transparency of financial condition, implementation of financial controls and fiscal responsibility, producing budgets that are well supported by the community.
The areas of uncertainty pertain to recent completed works such as a strategic plan for the district, and educational philosophies and methodologies that have been much heralded but have also generated controversies, such as Habits of Learning and the 5 Common Elements of Learning. It would be a stretch to say that these have been comprehensively embraced by all stakeholders. Of particular concern is the strategic plan, as its very recent implementation implies that a five-year plan, fastened with the input of hundreds of participants, should be adopted without question.
The single area that is conflicted is the relationship between the two professions in our buildings: teachers and central administration. The poor quality of the relationship has generated well publicized conflicts and, yet, to the credit of all educators, this has not disrupted the general trend in improving student performance. Pentucket, after all, is a proud learning community, and students have always remained first. The questions, therefore, are, would their achievement have flourished more if there were harmony? Is a true spirit of collaboration possible for the future?
Dr. Mulqueen will present his entry plan in coming weeks, and there is much excitement over his appointment and what that plan entails. The plan will ultimately hold the keys as to whether the success of our district can continue only with a material redirection or can it be done simply with a "tweaking" of already implemented educational initiatives.
It is indeed an interesting time that encompasses both hope and uncertainty.
• • •
Joe D'Amore of Groveland serves on the Pentucket Regional School Committee. His opinions are his own.
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