Above: Principal Finalists are visiting schools next week and the public is encouraged to attend one of multiple forums on the Neary roof and other school building issues. (photos L-R from NSBORO newsletter, Linked In, and roof consultant presentation)
Next week, the Southborough schools will be holding multiple events of special interest to parents of children who attend Southborough elementary schools, or will attend in future years.
Two of the events are open houses with the finalists for replacing retiring school leaders. Three others relate to the future of Southborough PreK-8 school buildings.
Principal Finalists Announced & Visits Scheduled
Last fall, the NSBORO Schools administration announced two big retirements planned for the end of this school year — Principals Clay Ryan (of Finn School) and Kathleen Valenti (of Neary School).
A search process for their replacements was opened. And it appears, the administration is on the verge of making job offers to the future Principals of Finn (grades PreK-2) and Neary (grades 4-5).
School Committee agendas that included finalist visits next week prompted me to reach out to the NSBORO Schools administration for more details. Superintendent Gregory Martineau responded with the announcements that were sent to Finn and Neary parents about the upcoming visits.
The Finalists announced were:
- Tom Millett for Neary Principal
- current Asst. Principal at Westwood High School
- visiting on Tuesday, February 24th
- Deborah Lemieux for Finn Principal
- current Asst. Director of Student Support Services for NSBORO elementary schools
- visiting on Thursday, February 26th
Each finalist’s visit includes an open house for parents & guardians from 6:00 – 7:00 pm that evening.
Each visit also includes a public meeting with the School Committee. (By law, those are open to the public. But, while you are entitled to observe and listen to the discussion, don’t expect an opportunity to participate or make public comments.) The Neary meeting is 12:00 – 1:00 pm (over lunch in the Superintendent’s conference room) and the Finn meeting from 4:15 – 5:00 pm (in the school’s conference room).
At last Wednesday’s School Committee meeting, Martineau recapped search processes that culminated in selecting the candidates from three semi-finalists. Search/interview committees with seven members met with each candidate for 90 minutes, including classroom visits.
For Neary’s candidate, the committee narrowed the selection down to one favored candidate, Millett. For Finn’s Principal, Martineau referred to two unnamed finalists. But he noted that might change, as they were still the stage of checking references.
Neary School Principal Finalist
At last week’s meeting, Martineau said the committee was “very excited” about moving Tom Millett to the next round. He enthused that the finalist “brings a wealth of of experience”, has “great energy”, and is “very culture driven”.
In addition to being an Assistant Principal for a public high school, his experience includes as a Dean of Students at a charter middle school in East Boston, and a 6th grade math and 8th grade history teacher in Memphis, TN.
Highlights from Martineau’s written announcement include:
Throughout his career, Mr. Millett has held a variety of leadership roles spanning elementary, middle, and high school settings, including instructional leadership, student support, staff supervision, and district-level professional learning. Mr. Millett has strong experience in student support and school culture, including chairing intervention teams, leading discipline processes, supporting students with complex needs, and developing social-emotional learning programming. He is committed to creating safe, structured, and inclusive learning environments for all students.
Mr. Millett currently serves as an Assistant Principal at Westwood High School. In this role, he leads instructional improvement, supervises staff, manages academic systems, and supports student achievement through data-driven decision-making. He oversees evaluation processes, coordinates MCAS administration, helps build the master schedule, and leads initiatives such as targeted academic support and schoolwide professional learning. Mr. Millett also recently served as an Interim Assistant Principal at the Westwood Pine Hill Elementary School.
You can read the full announcement with visit schedule here.
Finn School Principal Finalist
Deb Lemieux will be familiar to some parents with children who have students with special needs. She has been in her Support Services role for over ten years.
She has worked in NSBORO Schools since 1998. For the first 11 years, she served as a teacher of grades 1, 2, and 4 at Northborough’s Zeh School. Experience highlighted in the announcement includes:
Ms. Lemieux is an accomplished instructional leader with more than 30 years of experience in education. . .
In her current role, she oversees special education programming across multiple elementary schools, ensuring strong support for students while maintaining full compliance with state and federal regulations. She has led professional development for staff, supported curriculum and instructional improvement, and collaborated closely with families and community partners to strengthen student outcomes. Her leadership has also included budget management, program development, and advancing inclusive practices that support all learners.
Ms. Lemieux brings strong expertise in evidence-based literacy, data-driven decision-making, and Universal Design for Learning, and a background as a classroom teacher, special educator, and district leader, reflecting a well-rounded understanding of teaching, learning, and school leadership.
You can read the full announcement with visit schedule here. (Note: The Neary announcement clarifies that the scheduled meeting with “NASA” is referring to the Northborough, Algonquin, and Southborough Administrators.)
School Building Info Sessions
If you care about the educators who will be leading the elementary schools, you probably also care about the maintenance and future plans for the buildings PreK-8 students are taught in.
Three of next week’s School Committee meetings are billed as Special Town Meeting Informational Forums. The agendas notify:
Discussion will include an Overview of the Warrant Articles and an Update on the Neary School Roof Replacement Need
The forums are part of the school administration’s and committee’s outreach efforts to convince voters of the need to support Articles 1 & 4 at the March 2nd Special Town Meeting.
As I’ve previously written, the Warrant asks voters to fund replacing Neary School’s failing roof and next steps for the additional work that would be required to follow. It also includes options for studies for potential school building renovation projects.
Read more about that here.
Below is the schedule with links to the agendas for the forums:
- Sunday, February 22nd, over zoom webinar only
- Monday, February 23rd, 6:00 pm, in the Public Safety Building
- Thursday, February 26th, 12:00 pm, in the Public Safety Building
The Special Town Meeting is Monday, March 2nd, 6:00 pm, at Trottier Middle School.
