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24 Main Street, Hopkinton, MA 01748 508.435.5534 08/14/2006 09:11:15 PM Editor@HopNews.com

Former Duxbury Principal John E. McCarthy chosen as the new

Principal of Hopkinton High School

“He is an outstanding communicator, and a knowledgeable administrator.” Dr. Phelan (File photo)

by Julie Brennan

August 14, 2006 — John E. McCarthy, the new Principal of Hopkinton High School, decided early in life not to follow in his father's footsteps. Growing up with a parent who was both a teacher and a school administrator influenced his choice to pursue a path in business while attending Providence College. He shortly realized, however, that he was unhappy in that field and visited his adviser for help. John's adviser gave him an interest inventory test. Ironically, the test results indicated that he was best suited for a career in education, so John decided to change his major. In 1978 he received a Bachelor's Degree in Secondary Education and Social Studies, and later returned to school to earn a Masters Degree in Educational Administration.

For fifteen years he worked in the Old Rochester Regional school systems, as a teacher. Because he enjoyed teaching so much, he never expected to become an administrator. While working there, however, an administrator became ill and John was asked to fill in. He loved the experience and continued to pursue that career from then on.

In 1998 he became the Head of Rice Memorial High School in Burlington, Vermont, and later the Principal of Duxbury High School. In the past, he has also coached several sports and served as an advisor to several student organizations.

When asked why he chose to apply for the Principal position in Hopkinton, John replied “Hopkinton is much like Duxbury.” After resigning from his position as Principal of Duxbury High School, McCarthy looked for a job as an Assistant Superintendent, thinking he was ready for the next rung on the ladder. He interviewed for a few positions, but was not very excited about any of them. He then realized he was just not ready to leave being a principal. At this point, it was June and most administrative positions in the area had been filled. John was happy to see that there was still an opening in Hopkinton.

“Hopkinton is like a mirror of where I'm coming from” he said. He described Hopkinton and Duxbury as being very similar: both schools are roughly the same size, and both are high performance high schools with excellent academic, athletic and arts programs. He said that he feels “very comfortable in this kind of environment.” Mr. McCarthy enjoys the challenge of continuing to improve an already high performing school system.

John has two children who are both currently in college. For six years, however, his children attended the same school that he was working in. While the situation could be uncomfortable at times, it gave him a different view of how things worked within the school. He was able to see the institution not only through the eyes of an administrator, but through the eyes of a parent and a teenager as well. John described the situation as being “an invaluable experience.”

Mr. McCarthy plans on using his first year at Hopkinton High School to get to know the community and see what works and doesn't work within the system. He has no intentions of making any major changes in the beginning, but wants to bring support to well-working programs, while developing plans for improving areas that are not as successful. In short, he plans on setting high benchmarks for the school to reach in the coming years.

Superintendent Dr. John Phelan expressed a high level of confidence in Mr. McCarthy's abilities and explained many of the reasons why he was chosen to be the new Principal of the High School. Dr. Phelan stated that John had eight years of experience as a principle, two of which were at a high performance high school, and “has performed every facet of the job.” He served as a chair of one of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) visiting teams, and is very informed of the re-accrediting process, an evaluation process that Hopkinton High School will be undergoing in two years. His understanding of the accrediting process will greatly help Hopkinton High School improve their effectiveness as an educational institution.

John McCarthy is also well informed of other processes used by the high school. While working in Duxbury, he worked on a redesign of curricula through Understanding by Design (UbD). UbD is a program for designing and implementing curriculum units, student instruction and performance assessments in schools. The UbD structure is the procedure that Hopkinton High School will use to redesign their curricula in the future.

In addition to his understanding and previous experience with programs like NEASC and UbD, McCarthy also created support structures for students at Duxbury High School that are similar to those already in existence in Hopkinton. For example, he helped develop the Link program to help freshmen with the transition into high school, and made grouping structure changes for special education students.

Dr. Phelan summarized his thoughts regarding John McCarthy by saying, “He is an outstanding communicator, and a knowledgeable administrator.”