The three finalists for the job of Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School principal received high praise from colleagues and supervisors in a series of conversations with The Times.
David Fabrizio, the candidate closest to the Island, is from Ipswich. He is the current principal at Ipswich Middle School.
Mr. Fabrizio spent 13 years teaching history and coaching at Lawrence High School, then three years teaching history and eight years coaching varsity basketball at Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School. Following that, Mr. Fabrizio worked and coached at Methuen High School, before taking an assistant principal job at North Andover Middle School for four years.
Carl Nylen, Ipswich school committee chairman, said he only had positive things to say about Mr. Fabrizio. He said Mr. Fabrizio helped the school weather “a very difficult set of budget years.”
“He had to lead his staff through a difficult set of budget cuts and downsizing and class-size increases, and I think he did a great job of taking people through a difficult time period, and fortunately now we’re in a much better place,” Mr. Nylen said.
Mr. Fabrizio found himself enmeshed in controversy and a topic on the Rush Limbaugh radio talk show after he was accused of canceling academic honors night so as not to make other students feel disappointed.
Mr. Nylen said it was was a miscommunication.
“There was probably much more made of that than there should have been,” he said. Mr. Fabrizio wanted to design an event that recognized academic achievers as well as other achievements, in front of the whole school, Mr. Nylen said.
“It wasn’t that he didn’t want to recognize excellence, it wasn’t that; it was more that he wanted to take a different approach on how kids get recognized,” Mr. Nylen said.
He said Mr. Fabrizio was a leader through budgetary challenges, and filled the shoes of his predecessor, who had been a long-serving and well-respected principal.
“To step into those shoes was not easy,” he said. “We have a lot of respect for him.”
Sara Dingledy is currently principal of the Westchester Square Academy in Bronx, N.Y. She founded the school in 2012 as a part of the New York–based program, New Leaders for New Schools, an initiative for educators to start their own New York City high schools. Previously, Ms. Dingledy was assistant headmaster of the the Brooklyn Latin School, a social studies teacher, and one of three founding teachers of the Martin Luther King Jr. High School of Art and Technology. Ms. Dingledy also worked as a waitress on Martha’s Vineyard for a year in the 1990s.
Gregory Rodriguez, assistant principal of the Westchester Square Academy, said Ms. Dingledy dedicates her life to the school and the staff.
“She demands a lot of you, but at the same time I’ve never worked for someone who has been as nurturing and attentive and as sincerely invested in me as a person,” he said. “I think she understands the link between the sort of person you are and the sort of worker you are.”
He said early on in the founding of the school, Ms. Dingledy faced a hostile climate in the community, because the larger campus the school was founded under was facing potential closure.
“I think when she opened the school, she was met with a lot of doubt just because of the position she was placed in and the nature of the job she was going to do,” Mr. Rodriguez said. “She’s done a fabulous job of winning folks over. People have seen that she’s really working in everyone’s interest here, and that she’s a person of integrity.”
He said she developed the entire vision and culture of the school.
“Sara is the type of person who was making sure it was being done by being in the classrooms every single day and having daily conversations about the instruction and the culture,” he said. “There’s hardly a time when she’s not thinking about how to improve the school, and what we need to communicate to people.”
David Williams of Barrington, N.H., is the former principal of York Middle School in York, Maine. Prior to that, Mr. Williams was assistant principal at Newmarket Junior/Senior High School in Newmarket, N.H., for four years. He began his career as a seventh and eighth grade science teacher at Dover Middle School in New Hampshire.
Debra Dunn, superintendent of York schools, said Mr. Williams was a transformational leader at the middle school.
“Dave is the strongest instructional leader I’ve worked with,” she said. “He transformed the school, he understands curriculum and instruction, he supported teachers, coached teachers, and loved kids.”
In March 2015, Mr. Williams was arrested after being stopped by York police for drunk driving. A blood test administered at the station showed a blood alcohol content of .11, which is above the the legal limit of .08. The incident led to Mr. Williams’ resignation as principal.
“It was an enormous decision, and it was in the best interest of his family at the time,” Ms. Dunn said.
“He’s very, very well regarded in our district,” she added.
During his time, Maine started a proficiency-based learning model.
“He spearheaded that in our district,” Ms. Dunn said. “I think he really showed his true leadership in initiating change over time.”
She said he started a Washington, D.C., trip for the students, unified the staff, began an enrichment program, and taught a class, in addition to his other responsibilities.
“I think by teaching in the classroom, he brought a lot of credibility and instructional knowledge,” she said. “He’s very student-oriented, and very involved with the students. I just can’t say enough good about him.”
Island visits
The next step in the selection process is hosting the candidates at the high school. Mr. Fabrizio will visit on Wednesday, Jan. 13, Mr. Williams on Jan. 14, and Ms. Dingledy on Jan. 15.
The candidates will arrive at MVRHS at 10:45 am, meet with students from 11 am to 12:30 pm in the Library Conference Room (LCR), tour the facility with a student guide from 1 to 1:30 pm, meet with administration, Island principals, and school committee members from 1:30 to 2:30 pm, meet with faculty from 2:30 to 3:30 pm, and finally meet with parents and community members in the LCR from 4 to 5:15 pm.
The candidates’ interviews with the search committee will air intermittently over the coming days on MVTV local access channel 15.
Following the visits to the Island, superintendent of public schools Matt D’Andrea will review feedback from students, staff, parents, and the community, and choose two final candidates. At that point, Mr. D’Andrea and a “small, representative contingent” will visit the current or former schools of the finalists.
Mr. D’Andrea will make the final decision based on those site visits.
Richie Smith, assistant superintendent of public schools and head of the search committee, said he hopes the process will conclude in early February.
